Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Most Widely Spoken Languages

LanguageApprox. number
of speakers
1. Chinese (Mandarin)1,075,000,000
2. English514,000,000
3. Hindustani1496,000,000
4. Spanish425,000,000
5. Russian275,000,000
6. Arabic256,000,000
7. Bengali215,000,000
8. Portuguese194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian176,000,000
10. French129,000,000

Source: Ethnologue,
13th Edition, and other sources.
1. Encompasses multiple dialects, including Hindi and Urdu.

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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