25.09.2019

Distribution of languages ​​in the world. The most widely spoken language in the world. The most difficult languages ​​in the world

It is very difficult to calculate the total number of languages ​​existing in the world, since there is no uniform approach to identifying dialects of the same language. Conventionally, there are about 7,000 languages, although their number is much larger.

From the entire set, we can highlight the most common languages ​​in the world, which are included in our rating. They are spoken by approximately 66% of the total population of the planet.

113 million people

(29 countries) opens the ranking of the most popular languages ​​in the world, and is native to 57 million Iranians. This is one of the languages ​​that has a rich, centuries-old tradition, including popular masterpieces of world literature. Largest part Persian speakers are concentrated in Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE and other countries. In addition, Persian is widely used in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Persian is spoken in approximately 29 countries around the world. The total number of speakers is about 113 million people.

140 million people

(10 countries) is one of the ten most popular languages ​​on earth. Officially, it is distributed in 10 countries of the world, but as statistics show from these countries, there are many more. Among them are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Egypt and others. About 70 million people in Italy are native speakers of Italian, and approximately the same number of people speak it in other countries. Italian is recognized as the official language of the Vatican, Switzerland, San Marino, and is also a second language in some districts of Slovenia and Croatia. In total, about 140 million people speak Italian.

180 million people

(12 countries) occupies the eighth position in the ranking of the most common languages ​​in the world. More than 80 million Germans are native speakers. In addition to the Germans, Austrians, Liechtensteiners and many Swiss are fluent in the language. He enters one of the state languages countries such as Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In addition, German is included in the working languages European Union. It is spoken by the peoples of 12 countries around the world. It is owned by over 80 thousand Australians, 400 thousand Argentines, 1.5 million Brazilians, 225 thousand Italians, 430 thousand Canadians. In the USA, about 1 million Americans own it - there it is quite common and is studied in schools. In Russia, about 2.5 million residents speak German, among whom only 400 thousand are Germans. There are 180 million German speakers in the world.

240 million people

(12 countries) is native to the 203 million inhabitants of Portugal. It ranks eighth in the ranking as the most widely spoken language in the world. Portuguese speakers are called Lusophones. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil and is spoken by about 200 million Brazilians. It is also used by the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Macau and East Timor. Fewer native speakers can be found in countries such as the USA, France, Canada, Japan and Argentina. About 240 million people speak Portuguese. It is one of the most important languages ​​due to Brazil's increased economic and global status.

260 million people

(16 countries) is one of the most popular and sought-after languages ​​in the world, which is spoken in 16 countries. About 166 million people living in the Russian Federation speak Russian. This is one of the official languages ​​of Belarus. Russian is also official in the countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Around the world, about 260 million people speak Russian. Among all the states that were part of the USSR, the largest number of Russian speakers are concentrated in Ukraine - about 40 thousand Ukrainians. There are about 730 thousand people in the United States whose native language is Russian. In Germany, the language is considered native, second or foreign for 350 thousand people. Russian is one of the international languages ​​of the world.

280 million people

(51 countries) are among the most widespread and popular languages ​​in the world. About 80 million French speakers are its speakers, and a total of 280 million people in the world can speak French. Apart from France, the largest number of Francophones are concentrated in Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, many African countries, and Luxembourg. French speakers can be found in 51 countries around the world. It is one of the six working languages ​​of the UN and one of the most studied languages, after English.

320 million people

(60 countries) is the native language of 242 million inhabitants, and in total about 320 million people in the world speak it. Arabic is spoken by the peoples of Israel, Somalia, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Iraq, Egypt, the Comoros Islands and others. The language is the oldest in the world and is spoken in 60 countries. It is the third most difficult language to learn, after Chinese and Japanese. The language of the Koran is spoken by millions of Muslims in all corners of the planet.

550 million people

(31 countries) opens the top three. About 550 million people around the world speak it, and for 400 million it is their native language. Spanish is the official language of Mexico and is spoken by about 120 million Mexicans. In addition to Mexico, countries with significant Spanish-speaking populations include the United States (41 million people), Argentina (42 million people), Colombia (45 million people) and others. According to official data, the working language of the UN is most common in 31 states. Spanish is considered the easiest to learn.

1.3 billion people

(33 countries) – one of the most widespread languages ​​on the entire planet. About 1.2 billion people in China own it, and more than 1.3 billion people worldwide own it. Chinese is one of the official languages ​​of Singapore and Taiwan, as well as the official working languages ​​of the UN. In Russia, the number of Chinese speakers is approximately 71 thousand people. In addition to its prevalence, Chinese is considered one of the most difficult languages ​​in the world, which was listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

1.5 billion people

(99 countries) is the most popular language that covers 99 countries of the world. It is carried by 340 Englishmen, and 1.5 billion people own it throughout the world. Lives in the USA greatest number Anglophones number approximately 215 million. In the UK, 58 million people speak English, Canada – 18 million, etc. It is one of the working languages ​​of the UN. About 90% of all world information is stored in English, and about 70% scientific publications also available in this language. It is an international language of communication and the most studied in the world. According to some forecasts, in about 50 years every second inhabitant of the planet will speak English.

Language is perhaps the most important communicative and civilizational ability of a person - it allows us to obtain almost all the knowledge accumulated over the long history of the development of human civilization, through reading books, listening to radio, films, communicating with other people, etc. Today we have compiled a list (in order from least common to most common) of the most important and common languages ​​used today.

10. French. Number of native speakers: 129 million.
French is considered by many to be the most romantic language in the world. French used in many countries including Canada, Belgium, Cameroon, Rwanda, Haiti and of course France. We're probably really lucky that French is so popular, because without it we'd be stuck with Dutch toast, Dutch fries, and Dutch kisses (ugh!).
Saying “Hello” in French is saying “Bonjour”.

9. Malay-Indonesian. Number of native speakers: 350 million
Malay-Indonesian is spoken in Indonesia and Malaysia. There are actually many dialects of the Malay language, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they are all largely based on the same language, making it the ninth most widely spoken language in the world. Indonesia is a charming country; The state is located on more than 13,000 islands, and is the sixth most populated country in the world. Malaysia borders two major regions of Indonesia (including borneo island), and is mainly known for its capital city Kuala Lumpur.
To say “Hello” in Indonesia is to say “haI” and “ Good morning- “Selamat pagi”.

8. Portuguese. Number of native speakers: 191 million
Amazing story Portuguese language, which could remain the language of one country, such as Swedish or Albanian. In the 12th century, Portugal gained independence from Spain and expanded its influence around the world with the help of famous explorers such as Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. Having captured colonies all over the world, the Portuguese passed on their language to the local population. This happened in Brazil (where Portuguese is national language), Angola, Macau, Mozambique and Venezuela.
Say “Hello” in Portuguese, say “Bom Dia”.

7. Bengali. Number of native speakers: 211 million
In Bangladesh, almost the entire population of the country (120 million people) speaks Bengali. And since Bangladesh is practically surrounded by India (where the population is growing very quickly), adjacent territories people also speak Bengali.
To say “Hello” in Bengali, say “Hey.”

6. Arabic. Number of native speakers: 246 million
Arabic, one of the oldest languages ​​in the world, is spoken by almost the entire Middle East, in particular countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Moreover, since Arabic is the language of the Koran, millions of Muslims in many countries also speak Arabic. Therefore, many people in the world can speak Arabic, and in 1974, Arabic was adopted as the sixth official language of the United Nations.
Say “Hello” in Arabic, so to speak, “As-salaam Alaikum.”

5. Russian. Number of native speakers: 277 million
The Russian language is a strong and nuanced language with a long history, which has given the world famous musicians, singers, poets, artists, scientists, playwrights and prose writers. One of six official languages UN, the Russian language is used not only in its native country, but also in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and even in the USA.
Saying “Hello” in Russia, saying “Hello”.

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4. Spanish. Number of native speakers: 392 million
Spanish is spoken in almost all countries of Central and South America, not to mention Cuba, Spain and the southern United States. In English, there are already many borrowings from Spanish, such as tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, and also grande, etc.
Say “Hello” in Spanish, say “Hola.”

3. Hindi. Number of native speakers: 497 million
Hindi is the main language of India with a rapidly growing population. This language, among other things, includes a huge number of dialects (of which the most common is Hindi). Some scientists predict that India's population will soon surpass that of China. If you are interested in learning Hindi, there is a very easy way to learn it: watch an Indian movie. The film industry in India is the most prolific in the world; here in Bollywood, thousands of action films, melodramas, and musicals are produced annually.
Say “Hello” in Hindi, say “Namaste”

2. English. Number of native speakers: 508 million
While not many people speak English, it is the official language of more countries than any other language in the world. This language is spoken all over the world, including the USA, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, South Africa, Canada, Australia and of course in England. Knowing English, you will easily feel at home in a hotel in any country in the world.
To say “Hello” in English say “Hai”.

1. Chinese. Number of native speakers: more than 1 billion.
Surprise, surprise! The most widely spoken language on the planet is spoken in the most populous country on the planet. And it's Chinese. It is said that learning Chinese is very difficult because every word can be expressed in four ways, and a beginner will inevitably have difficulty distinguishing one tone from another.
To say “Hello” in Chinese is to say “Ni Hao”. In this case, “Hao” is pronounced as one syllable, but the rules of the language require that you first lower your voice halfway through the word, and then raise it again at the end.

Language is the main way of communication between people and this article presents the most popular, widespread and in demand languages ​​of the peoples of the world.

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14. French



Even though this language is not among the ten most widespread languages ​​in the world, in our short presentation it takes an honorable 14th place, opening our ranking. The French language, in addition to being one of the most widespread, is also one of the most beautiful languages ​​in the world, which is very often called the language of love, just as the capital of France, the city of Paris, is called the city of love. This language is part of the Romance group of languages ​​and has the status of an official language in 29 countries, in particular Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Monaco and, of course, France. It is one of the six official languages ​​of the UN and is spoken in a number of countries. African countries, former French colonies. According to some estimates, French is spoken by about 250 million people around the world, but 75 million speak it as a native language.
Many people learn French because of its beauty, others learn it because it is a fairly popular language in Europe and knowledge of such a language will be useful for work and travel. This language is not very difficult to learn as a foreign language. Of course, French will be easier for some, more difficult for others, but many agree that in terms of difficulty of learning it is somewhere between German and Spanish.

13. Korean



Korean is the mother tongue of approximately 78 million people and is the official language South Korea and North Korea, partially distributed in China, Japan, USA and Russia. This language is not very popular and not many people study it in other countries. However, in terms of the number of native speakers, it takes an honorable 13th place in our ranking of the most common languages ​​on earth. Most researchers classify it as an isolated language, that is, a language that is not included in any known language. language family. However, some believe that Korean may be part of a hypothetical Altai family. According to some linguists, the Korean language may have some degree of relatedness to the Japanese language.
Some people think Korean is easier to learn than Japanese and Chinese, but the grammar in Korean is still more difficult, in their opinion. Chinese and Japanese languages ​​are studied mainly for romantic reasons, out of a desire to get closer to the culture of the East and learn about the centuries-old history of the region. Korean is taught mainly to earn money.

12. German



German is the most popular and in-demand language in Europe after English, and many people learn it not for cultural reasons or for travel, but for doing business and business negotiations. German is the official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Belgium. This language is native to 100 million people, and there are more than 120 million native speakers. The German language is part of the Germanic group, like English, however German It is considered much more difficult than English, like some other languages.
Beginners learning a language are frightened by words that are 2-3 times longer than their counterparts in other languages, many tenses, different conjugations of regular and Irregular Verbs, the presence of a certain and indefinite article, not always the same gender of nouns. However, the German language cannot be called one of the most difficult languages ​​of the world, since with the right approach it can be studied without any problems, like any other European language.

11. Javanese



There are so many languages ​​in the world, but not many of our citizens even know about the existence of this language, not to mention the fact that the Javanese language is one of the most widespread. The language is spoken by about 105 million people and is spoken mainly on the Indonesian island of Java and several neighboring islands. It is the largest Austronesian language in terms of speakers. This is a fairly developed language that has a rich literary tradition with different genres of poetry and prose, and many varieties of theatrical genres. Despite the fact that almost half of the Indonesian population actively uses the Javanese language in everyday life, it, like all other existing languages ​​in the country, does not have official status.

10. Punjabi



This language belongs to the Indo-Aryan languages ​​of the Indo-European language family and is one of the official languages ​​of India. Punjabi is the language of the Punjabis and Jats, ethnic groups in India. The language is spoken in the eastern part of Pakistan, as well as in some parts of India. There are approximately 112 million Punjabi speakers in the world. There are approximately 105 million native speakers living in Pakistan and India. While the rest live in countries such as the UK, Canada, UAE, USA, etc. Among the features of the language, one can highlight the fact that it is a tonal language. In tonal languages, the height of a stressed syllable changes its meaning. In Punjabi, a stressed syllable can have three different pitches. This is very unusual for Indo-European languages.

9. Japanese



Ninth place in our list of the most common and popular languages ​​in the world is occupied by another language from Asia. There are 130 million native speakers of this language. Japanese is studied mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the language is studied for doing business, since Japan is one of the strongest economies in the world. Secondly, Japan has a rich and interesting culture that attracts thousands of people and sooner or later makes them interested in the country's language. Japanese is by no means an easy language. One of the main difficulties in learning this language is the hieroglyphs, which came from Chinese, but have changed slightly over time as the language developed.
IN Japanese Almost all hieroglyphs have not one, but two or more sounds, depending on the words in which they are used. Today in Japan, about two and a half thousand hieroglyphs are the most commonly used, while in China at least 3,500 hieroglyphs are used. Japanese is a simpler language compared to Korean and Chinese, but Japanese grammar is very complex. There are no tones in Japanese, but there are two alphabets. The Hiragana alphabet is the basic alphabet, used for purely Japanese words, grammatical markings, and sentence endings. Katakana is another Japanese alphabet and is used for words of foreign origin and names.

8. Russian



Russia is one of the most important countries in the world, occupying a vast territory where many people live. Rich, vibrant and vibrant culture and most beautiful cities The country attracts many foreigners who are also interested in the “mighty” Russian language. There are about 160 million people for whom Russian is their native language. In total, there are about 260 million Russian speakers. Russian is the official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is the most widespread Slavic language in the world and the most widespread language in Europe in terms of the number of native speakers. Russian is one of the working languages ​​of the UN. It is quite difficult to learn, its grammar is complex but logical. Russian can be called one of the simple “complex” languages.
Many foreigners choose French or German because they are common in Europe. People choose Russian when they want to experience Russian culture, when they have Russian friends with whom they want to speak their language, when they move to live or work in Russia. Basically, people study Russian because they like it, like, in general, any other language. You cannot learn a language through force, it must interest and attract, there must be a desire to learn it.

7. Bengali



The language of Bengalis, one of the languages ​​of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is widespread and is the official language in Bangladesh and India. There are about 190 million people for whom it is their native language and about 260 million people who speak it. Some aspects of the language are often different in India and Bangladesh. The letter in most cases fully matches the pronunciation. The written language is based on Sanskrit and does not always take into account the changes and mergers of sounds that have occurred in the language over time. The history of the Bengali language dates back at least a thousand years, as evidenced by both the dating of the first literary monuments and linguistic reconstruction data.

6. Portuguese



Portuguese is the mother tongue of approximately 230 million people, and total Its speakers reach approximately 260 million people. It is the official language in Portugal, Brazil, Angola and some other countries. Most of the native speakers live in Brazil. The Portuguese language is comparable in difficulty to learning to Spanish, French and Italian, as it is in the same group of Romance languages. There are two main varieties of the language, European Portuguese and Brazilian, as well as a number of varieties in African and Asian countries, differing from each other at the level of phonetics, vocabulary, spelling and grammar. African countries use the European version of Portuguese with a large number of lexical borrowings from African languages.

5. Arabic



Arabic distributed in 60 countries of the world, such as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya, and in 26 of them it is official. One of the working languages ​​of the UN and belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family of languages. The number of native speakers of the language exceeds 245 million people, and the total number of people speaking it is more than 350 million. Arabic plays great importance in the political and economic spheres, in the field of energy and security. This is a very popular language and people who know it will always be able to find themselves Good work. Arabic is one of the five most difficult languages ​​in the world; there are many dialects of Arabic that differ significantly from each other.

4. Hindi



The language is one of the 23 official languages ​​of India and is also spoken in Pakistan and Fiji. There are 260 million people who speak Hindi as their mother tongue, and the total number of Hindi speakers is approximately 400 million. At the colloquial level, Hindi is virtually indistinguishable from India's other official language, Urdu. The last one is different a large number Arabic and Persian borrowings, as well as the fact that it uses the Arabic alphabet, while the traditional Hindi script is the Devanagari syllabary. English is one of the official languages ​​of India, but, nevertheless, according to some sources, Hindi is quite a promising language and it can become one of the most popular languages ​​by 2050.

3. English



The top three of our list of the most popular and widespread languages ​​opens English language, which is the most common language to study as a foreign language. This language is native to 350 million people, and the total number of speakers is about 1.4 billion. English is one of the working languages ​​of the UN, the official language of Australia, New Zealand, USA, England, Canada and some other countries. English in modern world plays a huge role in many areas of life from politics and business, to culture and travel. This is due to colonial policy British Empire in the 19th century and the global influence of the United States of America today.

English is also considered one of the easiest languages ​​to learn, if not the easiest. However, this language also has its difficulties. In many countries around the world, English is taught in schools with almost no primary classes as a foreigner.

2. Spanish



In second place is a very beautiful language, which is official in Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba and most countries in South America. Spanish is very similar to Italian and Portuguese, as it is in the same Romance group with them. Approximately 420 million people speak Spanish as their native language, and there are about 500 million speakers around the world. This is the most common language Romanesque group, 9/10 of whose speakers live primarily in the Western Hemisphere. It is a fairly easy language to learn, which, in addition to the Spanish culture and beauty of the language, adds to the desire of foreigners to learn Spanish.
There are several dialects of the Spanish language, but the real, original Spanish considered Castilian. Castilian, Catalan, Basque and Galician dialects are common in Spain, while in South America there are five main dialect groups. The first group is used mainly in Cuba, in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Mexico. The second is in Peru, Chile and Ecuador. The third is in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The fourth group is the Argentine-Uruguayan-Paraguayan variant, which includes Eastern Bolivia. The fifth group is conventionally called Mountain Latin American Spanish. This language is spoken by residents of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Andes of Colombia and Venezuela, Quito (the capital of Ecuador located at an altitude of 2800 m), Peruvian mountain range and Bolivia.

1. Chinese



The Chinese language is a collection of very different dialects, and therefore is considered by most linguists as an independent language branch, consisting of separate, although related, language and dialect groups. In fact, Chinese is made up of many other languages. But at the same time, the hieroglyphs are the same. The writing of basic characters has become much simpler since the mid-20th century, after the reform in China. The unified Chinese language is called Mandarin or simply Mandarin, which is called Putonghua in China. The Chinese language has 10 dialect groups and seven main traditional dialects.

Many people consider Chinese to be the most difficult language to learn, more difficult than Japanese and Arabic. Mainly because it uses over 3,000 characters, which are noticeably more difficult to write than Japanese or Korean. The use of tones in a language also makes it difficult to learn. Despite all the difficulties of learning, Chinese remains one of the most promising and popular languages ​​in the world. It is the mother tongue of 1.3 billion people and has more than 1.5 billion speakers. China is one of the strongest countries in many areas, one of the largest in terms of territory and the largest in population. Nowadays, the Chinese language is very popular and interesting, both for doing business and for understanding ancient culture on the planet.

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Knowledge of several foreign languages ​​is necessary today, especially if you work with foreign partners or your hobby requires knowledge foreign language. However, learning a language requires serious commitment and a lot of intellectual resources from many people.

Our advice is to start studying what you like or what you need, since the most important thing in learning a language is motivation, something that will make you work and study month after month. If you still can't decide on which language to use, perhaps this list of 10 popular languages ​​in the world will help you. Languages ​​are selected based on their global significance (distribution, economic and political influence), ease of learning, and usefulness for the individual (for example, when traveling or getting a job).

1., of course, without options. It is the world's most widely spoken language, the world's lingua franca, spoken by people from all over the world. different countries to understand each other (even if English is not the native language of the participants). English is understood to one degree or another by approximately 1/3 of the world's population. Almost all international business, academic and diplomatic negotiations are conducted in the language of Shakespeare. In many European countries Today English is necessary to get a good job. Luckily, English is quite easy to learn.

2. - according to some estimates, it is in second place in demand, at least for Americans. It makes communicating with Spanish speakers in North America (especially in the south) easier, and knowing the language will make traveling around Spain or Latin America much more interesting. It is the working language of the UN. And most importantly, this language of Borges, Cervantes and another 700 million people is one of the most simple languages for studying!

3. . It is likely that China will become the world's new superpower in the near future. It is home to 1.3 billion people, a developed economy and a millennia-old cultural heritage. Chinese is the working language of the UN. If you choose among Chinese dialects, then stop at Mandarin: it is the official language of the country and predominates in most of China. Speaking Chinese is relatively easy (especially once you get the hang of pitches, which are very important for understanding meaning). The grammar is also simple. But hieroglyphic writing is a nightmare; even many Chinese cannot cope with it fully.

4. is also one of the most popular languages ​​in the world. It is spoken by about 250 million people in Eurasia (including many older people in countries of Eastern Europe). A huge amount of scientific and technical materials were written in Russian, in addition, Russian is the language of literature, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. Russia is one of the world's energy and economic powers. Russian is one of the working languages ​​of the UN. It is quite difficult to learn, its grammar is complex but logical. Russian can be called one of the simple “complex” languages.

5. Arabic. It is spoken by about 400 million people, and the Koran is written in it. IN Lately Arabic has become extremely important for global negotiations related to energy or security. People who know Arabic are in demand in the labor market today; they receive good salaries. Another question is how long this situation will continue. Arabic is one of the working languages ​​of the UN. Of course, the grammar and writing of Arabic are very complex, and it will probably be the third most difficult (after Chinese and Japanese) on this list of popular languages ​​in the world. Another disadvantage is that there are many dialects of Arabic that differ significantly from each other.

6. is important historical meaning, because it was the lingua franca of Europe before English. Even today it is the second most popular world language; 130 million people speak it at the native level. Half of them live in France, the rest in West Africa and the Maghreb countries. French is important in the European Union, whose capital is French-speaking Brussels. IN North America French is used in Quebec and some southern areas. But with all this, if you are not a diplomat, not an EU official or an existentialist philosopher, French will be less important to you than it was 50 years ago. But it is relatively simple and similar to English.

7. Portuguese is becoming increasingly important due to the development of Brazil and its emergence as a global economic and raw materials power. If you're learning Portuguese, you'll stand out among those learning Spanish. Portuguese is spoken by 200 million people. The language is somewhat more difficult than Spanish, but no more difficult than English or French.

8. Japanese. Japan is still important economic power in the world. Japanese is spoken by 130 million people. It is a very complex language with difficult grammar and an abundance of grammatical forms depending on gender and social status participants in the conversation. Funny thing: quite often Japanese girls communicate with male foreigners learning the language. Sometimes this leads to the fact that these “unhappy” men begin to speak like girls.

9. . It is spoken by about 100 million people and is the language of Turkey, an important country in the Middle East. It is quite simple (which is why it ended up on the list of the most popular languages ​​in the world).

10. . A language in demand in Europe and among those interested in the history of the 20th century. German is used in business communication(Germany has a significant economic impact to Eurozone countries). Most young Germans today speak English, the country's population is decreasing: German is likely to continue to lose ground. The language is similar to English in terms of difficulty to learn, although its grammar is more complex.

Here are some more popular and important languages ​​of the world that were not included in the list of 10 most popular languages:

Korean. Quite important, but has limited growth potential. Also, almost as complex as Japanese or Chinese. A total of 70 million speakers.

Italian and Polish are two other “major” European languages, but they do not have much international significance.

Hindi would have made the list as it is the official language of India. Unfortunately, in practice it turns out that most Indians use local dialects or English to communicate.

Farsi – essential for specialists in the Near and Middle East.

It’s difficult to say how many languages ​​there are in the world. According to various experts, from 2 to 5-6 thousand. Most likely, it is simply impossible to count them, since there are a great many adverbs and modifications of various languages. Some African tribes speak languages ​​that no one speaks in the neighboring village.

For example in the country Papua New Guinea there are more than 800 languages. It is believed that this is the largest figure in the world for a single country.

The UN uses six official languages ​​- English, Spanish, Russian, French, Arabic and Chinese.

The most common languages ​​most often include either the languages ​​of Asian countries with large population(China, India, Indonesia), or the languages ​​of countries that were once empires and had colonies all over the world (France, Spain, Great Britain).

10. Punjabi

  • Used by 102 million people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 1.44%.

The language is official in India, and in Pakistan it has regional status in the Punjab province. It is spoken by approximately half of Pakistan's population. The number of native speakers will grow, since the distribution area is in regions with high level fertility.

9. Japanese

  • Used by 125 million people;
  • Global prevalence 1.9%.

It has official status in Japan, native to 125 million people, and about 140 million people speak Japanese fluently.

8. Russian

  • Used by 155 million people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 2.33%.

It has state status in the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus (together with Belarusian) and some unrecognized republics - Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia. It is also widespread in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and partly in other former republics of the Union.

7. Bengali

  • Used by 205 million people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 3.11%.

Bengali is official in the Republic of Bangladesh and is widely used throughout India. It is spoken by over two hundred million people on the planet.

6. Portuguese

  • Used by 215-220 million people;
  • Global prevalence 3.27%.

Portugal is the smallest country on this list, but one of the most widely spoken languages. Portuguese, in addition to its homeland, is used in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and a number of smaller countries in Africa and Asia.

5. Arabic

  • Used by 295-300 million people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 4.43%.

Arabic has official status in 27 countries, including Israel and some not Arab countries Africa - Chad and Somalia. One of the most dynamically spreading languages ​​in the world due to the high birth rate in Arab countries.

  • Used by 310-450 million people;
  • Global prevalence 4.7%.

Hindi is the most widely spoken language in India out of 20 officially used in this state. Exact amount It is as difficult to count people who use Hindi as the population of India; according to various estimates, from 260 to 490 million people use it.

3. English

  • Used by 400 million people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 5.43%.

English is spoken in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, a number of African countries and other lands - a total of about 75 territories around the world with the exception of South America. As a second language, it ranks first in terms of use - up to 1.5 billion people.

2. Spanish

  • Used by 410 million people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 6.15%.

More than 400 million people speak Spanish or Castilian. The most large countries— Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, and more than 35 million people speak it in the USA.

1. Northern Chinese (Mandarin Chinese)

  • Used by 1 billion people;
  • Worldwide prevalence 14.4%.

Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language Chinese languages, spoken by about a billion people. This is not surprising, since the Chinese are the largest ethnic group in the world.



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