| Language |
Family |
Ethnologue (2005 estimate)[1] |
Encarta estimate[2] |
Other estimates |
Ranking by Ethnologue estimate |
| Mandarin |
Sino-Tibetan, Chinese |
873,000,000 |
1,210,000,000†[2] |
882,000,000 native, 178,000,000 second language = 1,050,000,000 total[3]
†Encarta estimate includes all Chinese dialects |
1 |
| Hindustani |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
366,000,000[4] |
366,000,000 |
Standard Hindi 325,000,000, Ancient Hindi 100,000,000; A total of 650,000,000 including Urdu and secondary speakers, does not include Maithili. All Hindi dialects are mutually intelligible. |
2 |
| Spanish |
Indo-European, Italic, Romance |
322,300,000[5] |
322,000,000–358,000,000[6] |
Total of 417 million including second-language speakers (1999).[7][8] |
3 |
| English |
Indo-European, Germanic, West |
309,350,000[9] |
341,000,000 |
Over 1,500,000,000 worldwide.[10] Also see List of countries by English-speaking population which numbers 850,000,000 worldwide (as a total of first and additional language spoken). |
4 |
| Arabic |
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic |
206,000,000[11] |
422,039,637 |
It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.[12]
|
5 |
| Portuguese |
Indo-European, Italic, Romance |
177,500,000 |
191,000,000 |
215 million native, 20 million second language = 235 million total[citation needed] |
6 |
| Bengali |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
171,000,000 |
207,000,000 |
196 million native (2004 CIA) (includes 14 million Chittagonian and 10.3 million Sylheti). |
7 |
| Russian |
Indo-European, Slavic, East |
145,000,000 |
167,000,000 |
165 million native, 110 million second language = 275 million total |
8 |
| Japanese |
Japanese-Ryukyuan |
122,400,000 |
125,000,000 |
128 million native, 2 million second language = 130 million total |
9 |
| German |
Indo-European, Germanic, West |
95,400,000 |
100,100,000 |
101 million native (88 million Standard German, 5 million Swiss German, 8 million Austrian German), 60 million second language in EU[13] + 5–20 million worldwide. |
10 |
| Punjabi |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
88,000,000 |
57,000,000 |
61–62 million (2000 WCD) (taken together with Eastern Punjabi (28 million) and Siraiki (14 million): 104 million total) |
11 |
| Wu |
Sino-Tibetan, Chinese |
77,200,000 |
— |
77 million native |
12 |
| Javanese |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Sunda-Sulawesi |
75,500,000 |
75,600,000 |
70–75 million |
13 |
| Telugu |
Dravidian, South Central |
69,700,000 |
69,700,000 |
70 million native, 5 million second language = 75 million total (2001)[14] |
14 |
| Marathi |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
68,000,000 |
68,000,000 |
68 million native, 3 million second language = 71 million total |
15 |
| Vietnamese |
Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Vietic |
67,400,000 |
68,000,000 |
70 million native, perhaps up to 16 million second language, = ~86 million total |
16 |
| Korean |
Considered either language isolate or Altaic |
67,000,000 |
77,000,000 |
79 million if including secondary and non-native speakers.[15] |
17 |
| Tamil |
Dravidian, Southern |
66,000,000 |
66,000,000 |
68 million native, 9 million second language = 77 million total[14] |
18 |
| French |
Indo-European, Italic, Romance |
64,860,000[16]
|
78,000,000
|
113 million “native and real speakers”[17] (includes 64,473,140 French people), 250 million second language (worldwide including Africa and North Africa) = 363 million (as a total of first and additional language spoken) and up to 500 million total with significant knowledge of the language (2008).[18] |
19 |
| Italian |
Indo-European, Italic, Romance |
61,500,000 |
62,000,000 |
|
20 |
| Language |
Family |
Ethnologue (2005 estimate)[19] |
Encarta estimate[20] |
Other estimates |
Ranking by Ethnologue estimate |
| Cantonese |
Sino-Tibetan, Chinese |
54.8 million |
-- |
66 million |
21 |
| Sindhi |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
Official in India, Pakistan. Significant communities in People’s Republic of China (Hong Kong) ?, Oman? and Gibraltar. |
54.5 million (2006) |
41.5 million native, 13 million second language, = 30 million total (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk) |
22 |
| Turkish |
Altaic, Turkic, Oghuz |
50 million |
61 million |
74 million (2006 estimate)[21] + 15 million second language = 89 million |
23 |
| Min |
Sino-Tibetan, Chinese |
46.2 million |
-- |
Southern Min: 49m, Northern Min 10.43m |
24 |
| Gujarati |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
46.1 million |
46.1 million |
-- |
25 |
| Maithili |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
45 million |
(included in "Hindi") |
|
26 |
| Polish |
Indo-European, Slavic, West |
42.7 million |
52 million |
-- |
27 |
| Ukrainian |
Indo-European, Slavic, East |
39.4 million |
47 million |
-- |
28 |
| Persian |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian |
39.4 million [22] |
31.3 million |
ca. 72 million;[23] sometimes taken to include all of Southwestern Iranian (Luri, Tati, and other); ca. 62 million second language[citation needed], ca. 134 million total |
29 |
| Malayalam |
Dravidian, Southern - India |
35.8 million |
35.7 million |
38 million native, 10 million second language = 48 million |
30 |
| Kannada |
Dravidian, Southern |
35.4 million |
35.4 million |
55 million native, 9 million second language, = 64 million total[citation needed] |
31 |
| Tamazight (Berber) |
Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern |
National language in Algeria, Mali and Niger (Tuaregs); unrecognized in Morocco, Libya and Tunisia. Large migrant communities in France, Benelux, Spain and Germany . |
32.3 million (2006) |
37+ million (1998) |
32 |
| Oriya |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
31.7 million |
32.3 million |
-- |
33 |
| Azerbaijani |
Altaic, Turkic, Oghuz |
31 million |
31.4 million |
25–35 million native, including Qashqai (data for Iran uncertain); 8 million second language (outside Iran) |
34 |
| Hakka |
Sino-Tibetan, Chinese |
29.9 million |
-- |
34 million |
35 |
| Bhojpuri |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
26 million |
(included in "Hindi") |
126 million total |
36 |
| Burmese |
Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Lolo-Burmese |
22 million (1996) |
32.3 million (2006) |
32 million native, 10 million second language, = 42 million total |
37 |
| Gan |
Sino-Tibetan, Chinese |
21 million |
-- |
48 million, 29 million in Jiangxi[24] |
38 |
| Thai |
Tai-Kadai, Kam-Tai, Be-Tai, Tai-Sek, Tai |
20.05 million (1996) |
46.1 million (2006) |
~31 million native (1983 SIL, 1990 Diller, 2000 WCD) (dated data), = ~60 million first and second language (2001 A. Diller). Includes Southern Thai, Northern Thai/Western Lao, but not Shan, Isan, or Lao. |
39 |
| Language |
Family |
Official status and where spoken natively, or as an immigrant language, by more than 1% of the population |
SIL estimate[2] |
Other estimates |
Ranking by SIL estimate |
| Sundanese |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Sunda-Sulawesi |
Native to Indonesia (origin in western Java) |
27 million (2006) |
27 million (1990) |
40 |
| Romanian |
Indo-European, Italic, Romance |
Official in Moldova, Romania, Serbia (Vojvodina). Significant communities in Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, USA. |
26.3 million (2006) |
26 million native,[2] 4 million second language. The total is about 30 million.[25] |
41 |
| Hausa |
Afro-Asiatic, Chadic, West |
Official in Niger, north Nigeria. Significant communities in Chad, Benin, Ghana, Sudan |
24.2 million (2006) |
24 million native, ~15 million second language, = ~40 million total |
42 |
| Pashto |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern |
Official in Afghanistan. Native to Pakistan. Significant communities in Iran, United Arab Emirates. |
60 million (2006) |
65-70 million (data uncertain; ethnic population ~60 million) |
43 |
| Serbo-Croatian |
Indo-European, Slavic, South |
Official in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, under names Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian respectively. Significant communities in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia. |
21.1 million (2006) |
17 million |
44 |
| Uzbek |
Altaic, Turkic, Eastern |
Official in Uzbekistan. Native to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan |
20.1 million (2006) |
20 million (1995) |
45 |
| Dutch |
Indo-European, Germanic, West |
Official in Belgium, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Suriname. Significant communities in South Africa, Bonaire island and Sint Maarten island |
20 million (2006) |
25 million[26][13] |
46 |
| Yoruba |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Defoid, Yoruboid |
Official in Nigeria. |
20 million (2006) |
19 million native, 2 million second language, = 21 million total (1993) |
47 |
| Amharic |
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, South |
Official in Ethiopia. Significant communities in Israel. |
17.4 million (2006) |
27 million native (32.7% Ethiopia [1994 census] and 2.7 million emigrants), 10% (7 million) as a second language = 34 million total |
48 |
| Oromo |
Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East Cushitic |
National language of Ethiopia. Significant communities in Kenya |
17.2 million (2006) |
24 million native (31.6% of Ethiopia [1994 census]), ~2 million second language, = 26 million total (1998 census) |
49 |
| Indonesian |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian |
23.1 million, national language in Indonesia |
17.1 million |
140 million second language |
50 |
| Filipino |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Borneo-Philippines |
Official and Native in Philippines. Significant communities in Canada, People’s Republic of China (Hong Kong), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States (Alaska, California, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands). |
17 million (2006) |
22 million native (2000 census), ~65 million second language, = 85 million total |
51 |
| Kurdish |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern |
Official in Iraq. Native to Armenia, Iran, Syria, Turkey. Significant communities in Germany, Lebanon. |
16 million (all varieties) |
~31,417,000[citation needed] (see article for full list) |
52 |
| Language |
Family |
Official status and where spoken natively, or as an immigrant language, by more than 1% of the population |
SIL estimate[2] |
Number of speakers |
Ranking by number of native speakers |
| Somali |
Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East |
Official in Somalia. Native to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya. Significant communities in Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Yemen. |
9.8 million (2006) |
10-16 million native and at least 500,000 second-language speakers.million (2004 WCD) |
49 |
| Lao |
Tai-Kadai, Kam-Tai, Tai |
Official in Laos. Native to Thailand. |
3.2 million (2006) |
~19 million Lao-Phutai dialects (including Isan) (data dated) |
50 |
| Cebuano |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Borneo-Philippines |
Native to Philippines |
15 million (2006) |
18.5 million native, ~11.5 million second language, = 30 million total (2000 census) |
51 |
| Greek |
Indo-European, Greek |
Official in Cyprus, Greece. Significant communities in Albania, Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA. |
15 million (2007) |
12 million (2004), up to 10–12 million more second language |
52 |
| Malay |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Sunda-Sulawesi, Malayic |
Official in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore. Native to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand. Significant communities in Australia, Bahrain. |
23.6 million (2006) |
18 million native, 3 million second language, = 21 million total (not counting Indonesian) |
53 |
| Igbo |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Igboid |
Official in Nigeria |
18 million (2006) |
18 million native (1999 WA), unknown number second language. |
54 |
| Malagasy |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Borneo-Philippines, Barito |
Official in Madagascar. Significant communities in Mayotte, Réunion. |
10.5 million (2006) |
17 million |
55 |
| Nepali |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
Official in Nepal, India (Sikkim). Significant communities in Bhutan. |
approx. 30 million in Nepal, 16 million as native tongue and 15 million as a second language (2006) |
40 million (2006) |
56 |
| Assamese |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
Official in India (Assam). Significant communities in Bhutan and Bangladesh. |
15.4 million (2006) |
15 million (1997). Assamese is spoken and/or understood by most everyone in the state of Assam. Assam had a population of 26.7 million in 2003-04. So, Assamese has another 8-10 million second language speakers. Assamese is also understood and spoken widely in Arunachal Pradesh with a population of 1.1 million. These are mostly second or third language speakers. Various tribes in Nagaland with a population 2 million use Nagamese, a variant of Assamese, for communication. Thus, a total of approximately, 28-30 million people speak and understand Assamese. |
57 |
| Shona |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
National language of Zimbabwe. Significant communities in Botswana, Mozambique. |
14 million (2006) |
15 million native, 1.8 million second language, = 16–17 million total, including Ndau, Manyika (2000 A. Chebanne) |
58 |
| Khmer |
Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Khmer |
Official in Cambodia. Significant communities in Thailand, United States (California), Vietnam |
8 million (2006) |
14 million native, 1 million second language, = 15 million total (2004) |
59 |
| Zhuang |
Tai-Kadai, Kam-Tai, Tai |
Official in People's Republic of China (Guangxi) |
14 million (2006) |
14 million native (1992), unknown number second language |
60 |
| Madurese |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Sunda-Sulawesi |
Native to Indonesia (Originally Java, Madura) |
13.7 million (2006) |
14 million (1995) |
61 |
| Hungarian |
Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric |
Official in Hungary, Serbia (Vojvodina), Slovenia, Austria. Significant communities in Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, United States, Israel |
14.5 million (2006) |
14 million native (1995) |
62 |
| Sinhalese |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
Official in Sri Lanka. Significant communities in United Arab Emirates |
13.2 million (2006) |
13 million native, 2 million second language, = 15 million total (1993) |
63 |
| Fula |
Niger-Congo, Atlantic, Northern, Senegambian |
Official in Niger, Nigeria. National language in Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal. Significant communities in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Sierra Leone. |
11.4 million (2006) |
~13 million (all varieties) |
64 |
| Czech |
Indo-European, Slavic, West |
Official in Czech Republic. |
12 million (2006) |
12 million (1990 WA). |
65 |
| Language |
Family |
Official status and where spoken natively by more than 1% of the population |
SIL estimate[27] |
Number of speakers |
Ranking by number of native speakers |
| Zulu |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in South Africa. Significant communities in Lesotho, Swaziland |
9.6 million (2006) |
9.6 million native, ~16 million second language, = ~25 million total (1996 census) |
68 |
| Quechua |
Quechuan |
Official in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru. Significant communities in Argentina |
8.3 million (2006) |
10.4 million, all varieties |
69 |
| Kazakh |
Altaic, Turkic, Northwestern, Southern |
Official in Kazakhstan. Significant communities in People's Republic of China (Xinjiang), Russia, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan |
8.2 million (2006) |
12 million |
70 |
| Tibetan |
Sino-Tibetan, Northwestern, Southern |
Official in Tibet. Significant communities in India, People's Republic of China |
7.1 million (2006) |
7.6 million |
71 |
| Tajik |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian |
Official in Tajikistan. Significant communities in Uzbekistan |
4.4 million. |
7.9-17 million native (estimates vary due to lack of official data, moreover these exclude Tajiks of Afghanistan) |
72 |
| Chichewa (Nyanja) |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in Malawi, Zambia. Significant communities in Mozambique, Zimbabwe. |
|
9.3 million native (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk), 0.4 million second language (1999 WA), = 9.7 million total |
73 |
| Haitian Creole |
Indo-European, Romance, Creole |
Official in Haiti. Significant communities in Bahamas, Canada (Quebec), Cuba, Cayman Islands (UK), Dominican Republic, France (Guadeloupe), United States (Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York). |
7.4 million (2006) |
12 million (2005) |
74 |
| Belarusian |
Indo-European, Slavic, East |
Official in Belarus. Significant communities in Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Russia |
10.2 million (2006) |
9.1 million (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk) |
75 |
| Lombard |
Indo-European, Romance |
Native to Italy |
-- |
5 million Western Lombard + 3 million Eastern Lombard + others = 9.13 million (Ethnologue 2006) |
76 |
| Hebrew |
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, North Central |
Official in Israel. Significant communities in USA (New York, California) and Gibraltar. |
9.42 million (2006) |
|
77 |
| Swedish |
Indo-European, Germanic, North |
National language of Sweden. National language in Finland. |
9 million (2006) |
8.8 million (1986), ~9 million (2005) |
78 |
| Kongo |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
National language in Angola, Congo-Brazzaville (Kituba), Congo-Kinshasa. |
4.7 million (2006) |
8.7 million, all varieties, including Yombe and creolized Kituba (1986–2002) (dated data) |
79 |
| Akan |
Niger-Congo, Kwa |
National language in Ghana |
7 million (2006) |
8.3 million native, ~1 million second language, = ~10 million total (2004 SIL) |
80 |
| Albanian |
Indo-European, isolate |
Official in Albania, Macedonia, Republic of Kosovo . Significant communities in Greece, Italy. |
6.0 million |
3.6 million (data from Albania) |
79 |
| Hmong |
Hmong-Mien |
China. Significant communities in France (French Guiana), Laos, United States (Minnesota, Wisconsin), Vietnam |
2.8 million (2006) |
~4 million (Lemoine, 2005) |
80 |
| Yi |
Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Burmic |
People's Republic of China |
4.2 million (2006) |
7.8 million ethnic Yi (2000 census) |
81 |
| Tshiluba |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
National language of Congo-Kinshasa |
|
7.8 million native, 0.7 million second language, = 8.5 million total (1991 UBS). Includes 1.5 million Kiluba. |
82 |
| Ilokano |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Borneo-Philippines |
Philippines. Significant communities in United States (Hawaii). |
8 million (2006) |
7.7 million native (2000 census), ~2.3 second language = 10 million total |
83 |
| Uyghur |
Altaic, Turkic, Southeastern, Eastern |
Official in People's Republic of China (Xinjiang). Significant communities in Kazakhstan |
7.6 million (2006) |
7.6 million |
84 |
| Neapolitan |
Indo-European, Romance |
Native to Italy |
-- |
7.5 million native |
85 |
| Bulgarian |
Indo-European, Slavic, South |
Official in Bulgaria. Significant communities in Moldova, Ukraine, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, USA |
9 million (2006) |
7.7 million in Bulgaria (2005) and ~1 million abroad = 8.5 million native |
86 |
| Kinyarwanda |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in Rwanda. Significant communities in Congo-Kinshasa, Uganda |
|
7.3 million (1998) |
87 |
| Xhosa |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in South Africa. Significant communities in Lesotho |
6.9 million (2006) |
7.2 million (1996 census) |
88 |
| Balochi |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian |
Native to Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan. Significant communities in Oman, United Arab Emirates |
7 million (2006) |
7.0 million (1998) |
89 |
| Hiligaynon |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Borneo-Philippines |
Philippines |
7 million (2006) |
6.9 million (2000 census), est. 4.1 million second language = ~11 million total |
91 |
| Tigrinya |
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, South |
Official in Eritrea, Ethiopia |
5.1 million (2006) |
4.5 million in Ethiopia (6% of population (1994 census)), ~2.25 million in Eritrea (50% of population (CIA)), = 6.75 million native, 146,934 as second language (1994 census), = 6.9 million total |
92 |
| Catalan |
Indo-European, Romance |
Official and Native to Andorra, Spain (Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencia),Aragon (La Franja), France (Pyrénées-Orientales), Italy (Alghero). |
6.6 million (2006) |
6.7 million native, ~5 million second language, = ~12 million total (1996) (includes Valencian) |
93 |
| Armenian |
Indo-European, isolate |
Official in Armenia. Significant communities in Russia, USA, Georgia, Lebanon, Syria, France. |
6 million (2006) |
6.7 million (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk, etc.) |
94 |
| Minangkabau |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Sunda-Sulawesi, Malayic |
Indonesia (Sumatra) |
6.5 million (2006) |
6.5 million (1981 Moussay) (dated data) |
95 |
| Turkmen |
Altaic, Turkic, Southwestern, Eastern |
Official in Turkmenistan. Significant communities in Afghanistan, Iran. |
6.4 million (2006) |
6.4 million (1995) |
96 |
| Makhuwa |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Major language of Mozambique. Significant communities in Tanzania |
2.5 million (2006) |
6.4 million, all varieties, including Lomwe |
97 |
| Santali |
Austro-Asiatic, Munda |
Official in India |
6.2 million (2006) |
6.2 million (1997) |
98 |
| Batak |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Sunda-Sulawesi, Northern Sumatra |
Indonesia |
2 million (2006) |
~6.2 million, all varieties (c. 1991 UBS) (dated data). Includes Toba, Dairi, Simalungun, etc. |
99 |
| Afrikaans |
Indo-European, Germanic, West Germanic |
Official in South Africa. Significant communities in Namibia,Botswana, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and United Kingdom. |
6.0 million (2006) |
6.0 million native, 10.3 million second language, = 16 million total (1996 census) |
100 |
| Mongolian |
Altaic, Mongolian |
Official in People's Republic of China (Inner Mongolia), Mongolia |
5.7 million (2006) |
5.7 million |
101 |
| Bhili |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
India |
1.3 million (2006) |
5.6 million, all varieties (1994). Includes 1.6 million Wagdi, etc. |
102 |
| Danish |
Indo-European, Germanic, North |
Official in Denmark, Faroe Islands (Denmark), Greenland (Denmark). Significant communities in Germany (Southern Schleswig) |
5.3 million (2006) |
5.6 million (2006?) |
103 |
| Finnish |
Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic |
Official in Finland. Significant communities in Sweden and Estonia. |
6.1 million (2006) |
5.4 million (1993) |
104 |
| Tatar |
Altaic, Turkic, Northwestern, Northern |
Official in Russia (Tatarstan). Significant communities in Bashkortostan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan |
5.7 million (1989 USSR census)[28][29], at least 5.34 milllion (2002 census: ethnic Tatars in Russia only)[30] |
|
105 |
| Gikuyu |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Major language of Kenya |
5.4 million (2006) |
5.3 million (1994 I. Larsen BTL) |
106 |
| Slovak |
Indo-European, Slavic, West |
Official in Slovakia. |
5.6 million (2006) |
5.0 million (1990 WA) |
107 |
| More |
Niger-Congo, Gur |
National language of Burkina Faso |
5.1 million (2006) |
~5 million (1991) |
108 |
| Swahili |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in Congo-Kinshasa, Kenya, Tanzania. Significant communities in Comoros, Mayotte, Oman, Réunion. |
5 million (2006) |
~5 million native, ~80 million second language |
109 |
| Southern Quechua |
Quechuan |
Official in Peru, Bolivia |
~5,000,000 |
|
110 |
| Language |
Family |
Official status and where spoken natively by more than 1% of the population |
SIL estimate[27] |
Number of speakers |
Ranking by number of native speakers |
| Guarani |
Tupi |
Official in Paraguay. Significant communities in Argentina. |
5.1 million (2006) |
4.9 million (1995) |
110 |
| Kirundi |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in Burundi. |
|
4.9 million (1986) (dated data) |
111 |
| Sesotho (southern) |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in Lesotho, South Africa. |
|
4.9 million (1996 census) |
112 |
| Romani |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
Significant communities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Iran, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey |
3.1 million (2006) |
4.8 million, all varieties, including Domari (data for Vlax 2002–2004; for Domari 2000 WCD). |
113 |
| Norwegian |
Indo-European, Germanic, North |
Official in Norway. |
5 million (2006) |
4.7 million (2006, Statistics Norway) |
114 |
| Tibetan |
Sino-Tibetan,Tibeto-Burman, Bodic |
Official in People's Republic of China (Tibet, Qinghai, parts of Sichuan, Gansu) |
1.3 million (2006) |
4.6 million, all varieties |
115 |
| Tswana |
Niger-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantu |
Official in Botswana, South Africa. National language of Namibia |
4 million (2006) |
4.4 million native, 200,000 second language, = 4.6 million total (1993 Johnstone) (dated data) |
116 |
| Kanuri |
Nilo-Saharan, Saharan |
Official in Niger, Nigeria. Significant communities in Chad (Kanembu) |
|
4.4 million native, 0.5 million second language, = 4.9 million total (data mostly from 1985) (dated data) |
117 |
| Kashmiri |
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan |
Official in and native to India. |
4.5 million (2006) |
4.6 million (1997) |
118 |
| Bikol |
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Borneo-Philippines |
Philippines |
3.3 million (2006) |
4.5 native, all varieties (2000 census), unknown number second language |
119 |
| Georgian |
Kartvelian |
Official in Georgia. Significant communities in Israel. |
4.1 million (2006) |
4.2 million (1993 UBS) |
120 |
| Qusqu-Qullaw |
|