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How Many Languages Are There In The World


Last update: 4th April 2019

It is estimated that there are currently around 7000 languages spoken in the world with at least 1700 languages of those languages with a maximum of 1000 speakers each but many with less than 100 and some with only one speaker. Approximately 6300 languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people in total. The top 150-200 languages have more than 1 million speakers each. Finally, the top 650-700 languages are spoken by more than 99.999986% of the worlds population.

Following is a list of countries with more than 100 recognised spoken languages in each. The number of languages are not just native languages of each country but also includes dialects with enough difference to the original language to be included in the count, and languages brought in through migration of people from other countries.


CountryPopulationNumber of languages spoken
Papau New Guinea3.8 million825-830
Indonesia222.7 million720-725
Nigeria89.6 million520-525
India1.04 billion442-448
USA262.7 million360-365
Mexico92.8 million295-300
China1.3 billion295-300
Cameroon10.7 million275-280
Democratic Republic of the Congo40.1 million215-220
Australia18.6 million205-210
Brazil172.3 million190-195
Philippines100.2 million180-185
Canada33.4 million165-170
Malaysia19.5 million143-147
Russia142 million132-138
Sudan22.3 million132-137
Chad6.6 million130-135
Tanzania28.4 million128-132
Nepal22.8 million125-130
Myanmar47.4 million115-120
Vanuatu188 thousand110-114
Vietnam75.6 million106-111