Ethnologue follows the ISO 639-3 international standard as the authority for identifying what speech varieties to list as languages. However, not every language identified by ISO 639-3 is listed in Ethnologue. The scope of Ethnologue includes languages identified as living or extinct in ISO 639-3. The extinct category includes only languages that have gone extinct in the past few centuries. Specifically excluded from Ethnologue are:

- Ancient languages, except for those which still have a use in present-day faith communities (such as Ancient Greek or Ancient Hebrew).
- Historical languages (like Old English or Middle English).
- Constructed languages, except for Esperanto and any others which demonstrate both current use and multigenerational transmission.

In the "writing" field, we are describing the way a particular language is written in an orthography. We use the ISO 15924 standard for script codes. In general, we only list a script for a particular language if there are published works in that script for that language. If the script is used in record keeping or in letter writing we may include the script if it is in common usage.

We do not list a script (such as Latin script) if it is only used for describing that language. So, for example, if a language has a dictionary or a grammar written about the language, we would not list that script. In addition, we do not list a script that is used primarily for texting or in social media. This type of writing is widely used for languages using non-Roman scripts. It is generally a "transliteration" or "romanized" version of a non-Roman script. It will almost always be in Latin script. We do not include this texting or social media usage of Latin script.

Most scripts used for sign languages are primarily used for transcription (HamNoSys, Stokoe Notation, etc.). Following our principles for when to list a writing system for a particular language, we do not list them.

Scripts other than transcription systems also exist for some sign languages but are not in wide use and so are not currently reported.

There are 143 language families.

From the 28th Edition of Ethnologue, here are the top 10 most spoken languages:

1. English [eng]
2. Chinese [cmn]
3. Hindi [hin]
4. Spanish [spa]
5. French [fra]
6. Arabic [arb]
7. Bengali [ben]
8. Portuguese [por]
9. Russian [rus]
10. Urdu [urd]

Visit our Insight page for more on the top 200 most spoken languages in the world.

Both extinct languages and dormant languages no longer have any fully-proficient L1 users. Ethnologue makes a distinction between the two, however, to reflect the differences that exist in the sociolinguistic status of these languages without users. Although a dormant language is not used for daily life, there is an ethnic community that associates itself with a dormant language and view the language as a symbol of that community's identity. Though a dormant language has no proficient users, it retains some social uses. In contrast, an extinct language is no longer claimed by any extant community as the language of their heritage identity. Extinct languages are lacking in both users and societal uses. Some extinct languages, such as Latin, may continue to be used as second-languages only for specific, restricted, often vehicular, functions, that are generally not related to ethnic identity. There are 337 dormant languages and 454 extinct languages in Ethnologue.

By number of languages, Niger-Congo is the largest with 1,537 living languages. By number of speakers, Indo-European is the largest with over 3.3 billion speakers.

Papua New Guinea has the most languages, with 841 living languages. Indonesia comes in second, with 721 living languages. Third place goes to Nigeria, having 538 living languages. To see a longer list, visit our Insight page.

English [eng]. It is spoken in 186 countries, as an established language or by a substantial immigrant group.

Ethnologue itself is not a translation or language-learning tool. Our primary purpose is to document and describe the world’s languages, including their classification, status, speaker populations, and more. While it’s a valuable reference for understanding a language's context, Ethnologue does not offer language learning tools, translation services, or interpretation.

However, here are some ways you may be able to find what you’re looking for:

- Language learning: For widely spoken languages, there are many apps, courses, and websites available. Try a web search for “[Language X] learning resources.”
- Less commonly spoken languages: Visit the External Resources (OLAC) link on each Ethnologue language page. The resources in OLAC often include linguistic documentation, literature, or learning materials, especially for under-resourced languages.
- Translation services: While Ethnologue does not provide translation or interpretation, our parent organization, SIL Global, offers a variety of language-related services.

[SIL Language Services Overview](https://www.sil.org/language-services)
[SIL Translation Services](https://www.sil.org/translation)

There are 6 international languages: Arabic [arb], Chinese [cmn], English [eng], French [fra], Russian [rus], and Spanish [spa].

There are 7,159 living languages in the world. See our Insight about this topic: How many languages are there in the world?

For more information, also see The Problem of Language Identification and Statistical Summaries (subscription required for Statistical Summaries).

Papua New Guinea has the most, with 841 living languages

Since the 17th edition, Ethnologue has deliberately moved away from using 'official' and 'national' distinctions in the description of language status, on the grounds that such distinctions are often inconsistently applied from country to country and thus lead to considerable confusion. The categorizations that we now use focus on two facets of language status: the 'health' of the language as more fully described by the EGIDS scale, and the official function of the language within that country.

This is a result of the introduction of the EGIDS scale in the 17th Edition. The 188 languages that have been placed in the Dormant category (EGIDS 9) were counted as extinct in the previous edition, but are now being distinguished from Extinct (EGIDS 10) and counted as living. In many cases there are revitalization efforts underway to preserve and even revive these languages as part of the heritage of living ethnic communities. While there may be no fully proficient speakers, these languages cannot be accurately identified as extinct. We believe this change aligns with the general consensus of language communities themselves and with the understanding of language preservation and documentation activists.

EGIDS stands for the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale. This is a tool that is used to measure the status of a language in terms of endangerment or development. See Language Status for more information. See Endangerment for information on how this scale relates to endangered languages.

Papua New Guinea has the most languages, with 841 living languages. Indonesia comes in second, with 721 living languages. Third place goes to Nigeria, having 538 living languages. To see a longer list, visit our Insight page.

Browse the Country Indexes to find the country you are interested in, and view the available resources on the country profile (Subscription may be required for some features).

We divide the world into 5 major areas which are subdivided into 22 regions, which follows the country groupings used by the United Nations Statistics Division in its reporting. Click on the 'Geographic Regions' section of the UNSD M49 Standard.

Papua New Guinea has the most, with 841 living languages

Vanuatu, with 110 established living languages and a geographic area of 12,189 square kilometers, has one language for every 111 square kilometers (43 square miles).

Small political entities, like Vatican State and Monaco, were not considered for this question.

Some countries have no language map(s) for one or more of the following reasons:

1. All the languages are widespread throughout the whole country.
2. There is only one language spoken in the country.
3. The data available to us is not reliable enough to publish.
4. Map production is underway for the country but has not yet been completed.

The total world population that Ethnologue reports is the sum of the total populations of L1 speakers of the living languages. Those population numbers come from a variety of sources and from significantly different points in time. In addition, Ethnologue lacks population estimates for about 4% of the world's languages. We do not automatically extrapolate population estimates to the current year, but rather wait for reports from reliable sources. As a result our world population count varies considerably from current census estimates.

There are 3,171 endangered languages.

Both extinct languages and dormant languages no longer have any fully-proficient L1 users. Ethnologue makes a distinction between the two, however, to reflect the differences that exist in the sociolinguistic status of these languages without users. Although a dormant language is not used for daily life, there is an ethnic community that associates itself with a dormant language and view the language as a symbol of that community's identity. Though a dormant language has no proficient users, it retains some social uses. In contrast, an extinct language is no longer claimed by any extant community as the language of their heritage identity. Extinct languages are lacking in both users and societal uses. Some extinct languages, such as Latin, may continue to be used as second-languages only for specific, restricted, often vehicular, functions, that are generally not related to ethnic identity. There are 337 dormant languages and 454 extinct languages in Ethnologue.

There are 1,431 languages with fewer than 1,000 first-language speakers. There are 463 with fewer than 100 speakers, and 110 with fewer than 10 speakers.

An endangered language is one in which the child-bearing generation is no longer transmitting it to their children. On the EGIDS scale, an endangered language would have a value of 6b, 7, 8a, or 8b.

EGIDS stands for the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale. This is a tool that is used to measure the status of a language in terms of endangerment or development. See Language Status for more information. See Endangerment for information on how this scale relates to endangered languages.

In the "writing" field, we are describing the way a particular language is written in an orthography. We use the ISO 15924 standard for script codes. In general, we only list a script for a particular language if there are published works in that script for that language. If the script is used in record keeping or in letter writing we may include the script if it is in common usage.

We do not list a script (such as Latin script) if it is only used for describing that language. So, for example, if a language has a dictionary or a grammar written about the language, we would not list that script. In addition, we do not list a script that is used primarily for texting or in social media. This type of writing is widely used for languages using non-Roman scripts. It is generally a "transliteration" or "romanized" version of a non-Roman script. It will almost always be in Latin script. We do not include this texting or social media usage of Latin script.

The exact number of unwritten languages is difficult to determine precisely. Ethnologue (28th edition) has data to indicate that of the currently listed 7,159 living languages, 4,153 have a developed writing system.

We don't always know, however, if the existing writing systems are widely used. While an alphabet may exist, there may not be many people who are literate and actually using the alphabet.

The remaining 3,011 languages are likely unwritten.

You may purchase any of the three hardbound Ethnologue regional volumes from SIL International Publications. Individual Country Digest reports can be purchased in the Ethnologue Store as downloadable PDF files.

Currently Ethnologue is only published in English. We have worked with partners on occasion to produce locally published volumes with subsets of the data translated into another language

You can use the Google Translate tool to translate the Ethnologue website by clicking here and selecting your preferred language in the bar at the top of your screen. This is an automated third-party service from Google, so we cannot guarantee the quality of the automated translation.

In short, no. See our Terms of Use and contact our Permissions Administrator for information about uses of Ethnologue that exceed those described there.

Some countries have no language map(s) for one or more of the following reasons:

1. All the languages are widespread throughout the whole country.
2. There is only one language spoken in the country.
3. The data available to us is not reliable enough to publish.
4. Map production is underway for the country but has not yet been completed.

You may purchase any of the three hardbound Ethnologue regional volumes from SIL International Publications. Individual Country Digest reports can be purchased in the Ethnologue Store as downloadable PDF files.

Previous editions of Ethnologue can be found in the footer of our website in the Products category, under Archives and Books.

Yes, you can find them here.