Earth's population speaks nearly 7,000 languages. For example, the UN has only 6 official languages: English, Arabic, Russian, French, Chinese and Spanish.
Today we have compiled for you Top 15 most common languages of the world. The main criterion for assessing the prevalence was the number of people who consider this or that language as their native language.
15. Urdu
Native to 60.6 million people.
The language, akin to Hindi, belongs to the Indo-European group and arose in the 13th century. Urdu is spoken by about 7 percent of the population of Pakistan and the population of several Indian states, as well as a few nationalities in 23 countries.
14. Italian
Native to 61.7 million people.
The language is official in Italy, Switzerland, the Vatican and San Marino. About 2% of websites on the Internet use Italian.
13. Tamil
Native to 65.7 million people.
The language of the population of southern India, parts of Singapore and Sri Lanka. The Tamil language arose more than 2300 years ago and it is on it that many classical literary works of Oriental literature are written.
12. Korean
Native to 66.3 million people.
The language is official in North and South Korea, it is spoken by nationalities in 33 countries of the world.
11. French
Native to 67.8 million people.
The language is official in France, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Monaco and Luxembourg. The International Organization for the Cooperation of Francophone Countries Francophonie unites 56 states.
10. German
Native to 90.3 million people.
The language is official in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Belgium. German is the second most popular language on the Internet - it comprises 6.5% of websites.
9. Japanese
Native to 122 million people.
Despite the fact that Japanese is an official language for only one state, it is used by the peoples of 25 different countries in Asia. The importance of the Japanese language is also enhanced by the fact that Japan is the fourth power in the world in terms of GDP.
8. Russian
Native to 144 million people.
Russian is used for communication by people in 33 countries of the world, including in 7 of which the language has official status. 4.8% of sites on the Internet use Russian.
7. Portuguese
Native to 178 million people.
The distribution of the native language for the population of small Portugal was facilitated by colonization. Portuguese is the second most popular language in Latin America. It is official in a number of African countries, for example, in Mozambique and Angola.
6. Bengali
Native to 181 million people.
The Indo-European language, originated in the X-XII centuries, is official in the Republic of Bangladesh and is widely used in India.
5. Hindi
Native to 182 million people.
This ancient language is the most common in India and is enshrined in the country's constitution as an official along with 20 other languages.
4. Arabic
Native to 221 million people.
The language has official status in Egypt, Israel, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Senegal and many other countries.
3. Spanish
Native to 329 million people.
The language is official in Spain, many countries of Latin America and Equatorial Guinea. About 4.5% of websites on the Internet use Spanish.
2. English
Native to 560 million people.
One of the most widely spoken languages in the world is recognized as official in 59 countries. Almost 57% of websites on the World Wide Web are in English. Interestingly, about 70% of the words in the language are borrowed.
1. Chinese
Native to 1213 million people.
The most spoken language in the world It is official in China, Taiwan and Singapore. In Chinese, 4.5% of Internet sites are made up. In the Chinese language there are 10 dialectic groups, moreover, the dialects are so different among themselves that it is sometimes impossible for residents of different regions of China to understand each other.
