| Language | Native speakers (millions) | % of world population | Mainly spoken in | Notes |
|---|
Mandarin
官話 / 官话 | 955* | 14.4% | Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia | Part of Chinese language family |
Spanish
Español | 405* | 6.15% | Spain, Mexico, United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, and Western Sahara. See List of countries where Spanish is an official language | Partially mutually intelligible with Portuguese[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP] |
| English | 360* | 5.43% | United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. See List of countries where English is an official language | |
Hindi
हिन्दी | 310* | 4.70% | India, Nepal, and Fiji | Part of Hindi languages family. Includes approx. 100 million speakers of other Hindi languages not counted below. Mutually intelligible with Urdu. Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Arabic
عربي | 295* | 4.43% | Arab League. See List of countries where Arabic is an official language | Arabic also is a liturgical language of 1.6 billion Muslims.[SUP][5][/SUP][SUP][6][/SUP]The Arabic language contains many different dialects. Many are not mutually intelligible. See Varieties of Arabic |
Portuguese
Português | 215* | 3.27% | Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, and Macau. See List of countries where Portuguese is an official language | Partially mutually intelligible with Spanish[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP] |
Bengali
বাংলা | 205* | 3.11% | Bangladesh, India (West Bengal, Tripura, Assam) | |
Russian
Русский | 155* | 2.33% | Russia, Ukraine, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. See List of countries where Russian is an official language | Partially mutually intelligible with Ukrainian[SUP][7][/SUP] andBelarusian.[SUP][7][/SUP] |
Japanese
日本語 | 125* | 1.90% | Japan | |
Punjabi
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
پنجابی | 102* | 1.44% | India, Pakistan (Punjab region) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
German
Deutsch | 89* | 1.39% | Germany, Austria, Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy), Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy (South Tyrol). See List of countries where German is an official language. | Wide dialect variety, within which many dialects, such as Low German, are not mutually intelligible with the standard language. |
Javanese
Basa Jawa | 82 | 1.25% | Indonesia (Java) | Javanese is the largest language without an official statusanywhere (and thus the largest minority language in the world), despite being used throughout Southeast Asia andSuriname. In terms of native speakers, Javanese is also more widely-spoken than Indonesia's sole official language,Bahasa Indonesia. |
Wu
吳語 / 吴语 | 80 | 1.20% | China (Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu) | Part of Chinese language family |
Malay/Indonesian
Bahasa Melayu
Bahasa Indonesia | 77 | 1.16% | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore | |
Telugu
తెలుగు | 76 | 1.15% | India (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Puducherry) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Vietnamese
Tiếng Việt | 76 | 1.14% | Vietnam | |
Korean
한국어
조선말 | 76 | 1.14% | North Korea, South Korea | |
French
Français | 74 | 1.12% | France and its territories, Belgium, Canada (mainly province of Quebec), Switzerland, Haiti, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and otherFrancophonie member states. See List of countries where French is an official language | |
Marathi
मराठी | 73 | 1.10% | India (Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Tamil
தமிழ் | 70 | 1.06% | India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Urdu
اُردُو | 66 | 0.99% | India, Pakistan | Mutually intelligible with Hindi. Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Persian
فارسی | 65 | 0.99% | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan | |
Turkish
Türkçe | 63 | 0.95% | Turkey, Northern Cyprus | Partially mutually intelligible with Azerbaijani |
Italian
Italiano | 59 | 0.90% | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino | |
Cantonese
粵語 / 粤语 | 59 | 0.89% | Mainland China (Guangdong (Canton) and southern Guangxi), Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei | Part of Chinese language family |
Thai
ภาษาไทย | 56 | 0.85% | Thailand | |
Gujarati
ગુજરાતી | 49 | 0.74% | India (Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Jin
晉語 / 晋语 | 48 | 0.72% | China (Shanxi, parts of Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi) | Part of Chinese language family |
Min Nan
閩南語 / 闽南语 | 47 | 0.71% | Mainland China (Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan), Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei | Part of Chinese language family |
Polish
Polski | 40 | 0.61% | Poland | |
Pashto
پښتو | 39 | 0.58% | Afghanistan, Pakistan | |
Kannada
ಕನ್ನಡ | 38 | 0.58% | India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Xiang
湘語 / 湘语 | 38 | 0.58% | China (Hunan) | Part of Chinese language family |
Malayalam
മലയാളം | 38 | 0.57% | India (Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Sundanese
 | 38 | 0.57% | Indonesia (Java) | Sundanese is the second largest language (after Javanese)without an official status anywhere (not counting Chinese languages such as Wu, Yue, Jin, Min Nan, Xiang). |
Hausa
هَرْشَن هَوْسَ | 34 | 0.52% | Nigeria | |
Oriya
ଓଡ଼ିଆ | 33 | 0.50% | India (Odisha) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Burmese
မြန်မာစာ | 33 | 0.50% | Burma | |
Hakka
客家話 / 客家话 | 31 | 0.46% | China (Southern) | Part of Chinese language family |
Ukrainian
українська мова | 30 | 0.46% | Ukraine | Partially mutually intelligible with Russian[SUP][7][/SUP] and Belarusian.[SUP][7][/SUP] |
Bhojpuri
भोजपुरी | 29 | 0.43% | India (Bihar) | Part of Bihari. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
Tagalog
Wikang Tagalog | 28 | 0.42% | Philippines | |
Yoruba
Èdè Yorùbá | 28 | 0.42% | Nigeria, Benin, Togo | |
Maithili
मैथिली, মৈথিলী | 27 | 0.41% | India (Bihar), Nepal | Part of Bihari. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Swahili
Kiswahili | 26 | 0.39% | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda | |
Uzbek
Oʻzbek
Ўзбек
اوزبیک | 26 | 0.39% | Uzbekistan | |
Sindhi
سنڌي
सिन्धी
| 26 | 0.39% | India, Pakistan (Sindh) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Amharic
አማርኛ | 25 | 0.37% | Ethiopia | |
Fula
Fulfulde | 24 | 0.37% | West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan | |
Romanian
Română | 24 | 0.37% | Romania, Moldova | |
Oromo
Afaan Oromo | 24 | 0.36% | Ethiopia, Kenya | |
Igbo
Asụsụ Igbo | 24 | 0.36% | Nigeria | |
Azerbaijani
Azərbaycan | 23 | 0.34% | Azerbaijan, Iran | Partially mutually intelligible with Turkish |
Awadhi
अवधी | 22 | 0.33% | India (Uttar Pradesh) | Part of Hindi languages family. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
Gan
贛語 / 赣语 | 22 | 0.33% | China (Jiangxi) | Part of Chinese language family |
Cebuano
Binisaya | 21 | 0.32% | Philippines (Central and Southern) | |
Dutch
Nederlands
Vlaams | 21 | 0.32% | Netherlands, Dutch Caribbean islands, Belgium (Flanders,Brussels), Suriname | Highly mutually intelligible with Afrikaans, a daughter language of Dutch spoken primarily in South Africa andNamibia |
Kurdish
كوردی | 21 | 0.31% | “Kurdistan” (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria) | |
Serbo-Croatian
Srpskohrvatski
hrvatskosrpski
српскохрватски
хрватскосрпски | 19 | 0.28% | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo | |
Malagasy
Malagasy | 18 | 0.28% | Madagascar | |
Saraiki
سرائیکی | 17 | 0.26% | Pakistan (Sindh) | |
Nepali
नेपाली | 17 | 0.25% | Nepal, India (Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam), Bhutan, Myanmar | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Sinhalese
සිංහල | 16 | 0.25% | Sri Lanka | |
Chittagonian
টগাঁইয়া বুলি | 16 | 0.24% | Bangladesh (Chittagong) | |
Zhuang
Vahcuengh
话壮 | 16 | 0.24% | China (Guangxi) | Actually 13 or more languages; related to Thai, not part ofChinese language family. |
Khmer
ភាសាខ្មែរ | 16 | 0.24% | Cambodia | |
Assamese
অসমীয়া | 15 | 0.23% | India Assam (India) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Madurese
Madhura | 15 | 0.23% | Indonesia ( Madura, and Java) | |
Somali
Af-Soomaali | 15 | 0.22% | Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Dijibouti, Yemen | |
Marwari
मारवाड़ी | 14 | 0.21% | India, Pakistan (Rajasthan), Nepal | This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
Magahi
मगही | 14 | 0.21% | India (Bihar) | Part of Bihari |
Haryanvi
हरियाणवी | 14 | 0.21% | India (Haryana) | Part of Hindi languages family |
Hungarian
Magyar | 13 | 0.19% | Hungary | |
Chhattisgarhi
छत्तीसगढ़ी | 12 | 0.19% | India (Chhattisgarh) | Part of Hindi languages family. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
Greek
ελληνικά | 12 | 0.18% | Greece, Cyprus | |
Chewa
Nyanja | 12 | 0.17% | Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe | |
Deccan
دکنی | 11 | 0.17% | India (Deccan) | Part of Urdu |
Akan
Twi
Fante | 11 | 0.17% | Ghana, Ivory Coast | |
Kazakh
Qazaqşa
Қазақша
قازاق ٴتىلى; | 11 | 0.17% | Kazakhstan | |
Min Bei
閩北語 / 闽北语 | 10.9 | 0.16% | China (Fujian) | Part of Chinese language family |
Sylheti
ছিলটী | 10.7 | 0.16% | Bangladesh, India | |
Zulu
isiZulu | 10.4 | 0.16% | South Africa | |
Czech
Čeština | 10.0 | 0.15% | Czech Republic | |
Kinyarwanda
Ikinyarwanda | 9.8 | 0.15% | Rwanda | Part of Rwanda-Rundi |
| Dhundhari | 9.6 | 0.15% | India (Rajasthan) | |
Haitian Creole
Kreyòl Ayisyen | 9.6 | 0.15% | Haiti | |
Min Dong
閩東語 / 闽东语 | 9.5 | 0.14% | China (Fujian) | Part of Chinese language family |
| Ilokano | 9.1 | 0.14% | Philippines (Luzon) | |
| Quechua | 8.9 | 0.13% | Peru, Bolivia | A language family, not a language |
| Kirundi | 8.8 | 0.13% | Burundi, Uganda | Part of Rwanda-Rundi |
| Swedish | 8.7 | 0.13% | Sweden, Finland | |
| Hmong | 8.4 | 0.13% | Laos | A language family, not a language |
| Shona | 8.3 | 0.13% | Zimbabwe | |
Uyghur
ئۇيغۇرچە | 8.2 | 0.12% | China (Xinjiang) | |
| Hiligaynon | 8.2 | 0.12% | Philippines (Western Visayas) | |
| Mossi | 7.6 | 0.11% | Burkina Faso | |
| Xhosa | 7.6 | 0.11% | South Africa | |
Belarusian
беларусы | 7.6 | 0.11% | Belarus | Only half this many use it as their home language. Partially mutually intelligible with Russian[SUP][7][/SUP] and Ukrainian.[SUP][7][/SUP] |
Balochi
بلوچی | 7.6 | 0.11% | Iran, Pakistan (Balochistan) | |
Konkani
कोंकणी
ಕೊಂಕಣಿ | 7.4 | 0.11% | India (Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra) | Schedule 8 official language of India.
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