The total number of languages existing in the world is very difficult to calculate, since there is no single approach to distinguishing dialects of the same language. Conventionally, there are about 7000 languages, although their number is much larger.
From the whole set, we can single out the most common languages in the world, which are included in our rating. It is they who are spoken by approximately 66% of the total population of the planet.
10. Persian | 113 million people
Persian (29 countries) opens a rating of the most popular languages of 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. Most of the Persian speakers are concentrated in Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE and other countries. In addition, Persian was widely distributed in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, as well as in Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Persian is spoken in about 29 countries of the planet. The total number of speakers is about 113 million.
9. Italian | 140 million people
Italian (10 countries) is among the ten languages most demanded on earth. Officially, it is distributed in 10 countries, but as the statistics of these states show much more. Among them are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Egypt and others. About 70 million people in Italy are native Italian and about the same number of people own 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.
8. German | 180 million people
German (12 countries) ranks eighth in the ranking of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Native speakers are more than 80 million Germans. Besides the Germans, Austrians, Liechtenstein and many Swiss are fluent in their language. It is included in one of the official languages of countries such as Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In addition, German is included in the working languages of the European Union. It speaks the peoples of 12 countries. It is owned by over 80 thousand Australians, 400 thousand Argentines, 1.5 million Brazilians, 225 thousand Italians, 430 thousand Canadians. In the United States, it is owned by about 1 million Americans - there it is quite common and is studied in schools. In Russia, about 2.5 million people speak German, among which only 400 thousand are Germans. There are 180 million people who speak German.
7. Portuguese | 240 million people
Portuguese (12 countries) is native to 203 million people in Portugal. It occupies the eighth line of the rating, as the most widely spoken language in the world. Portuguese speakers are called losophones. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil - it is spoken by about 200 million Brazilians. It also explains 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. Portuguese is owned by approximately 240 million people. It is one of the most significant languages due to the increased economic and world status of Brazil.
6. Russian | 260 million people
Russian (16 countries) - one of the most popular and popular languages of the world, which is distributed in 16 countries. About 166 million people living in the Russian Federation speak Russian. This is one of the official languages of Belarus. Also Russian is official in the countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Around 260 million speak Russian all over the world. Among all the states that were part of the USSR, a greater number of Russian speakers are concentrated in Ukraine - about 40 thousand Ukrainians. About 730 thousand inhabitants live in the USA, for whom Russian is native. In Germany, the language is considered native, second or foreign for 350 thousand. Russian is one of the international languages of the world.
5. French | 280 million people
French (51 countries) are among the most widespread and demanded languages of the world. About 80 million French people own it, and 280 million can be explained in French all over the world. With the exception of France, most of the 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.
4. Arabic | 320 million people
Arab (60 countries) is the native language for 242 million inhabitants, and about 320 million speak the entire world. Arabic is spoken by the peoples of Israel, Somalia, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Iraq, Egypt, Comoros and others. The language is the oldest in the world and distributed in 60 countries. He is the third most difficult to study, after Chinese and Japanese. Millions of Muslims all over the world speak the language of the Qur'an.
3. Spanish | 550 million people
Spanish (31 countries) opens the top three. It is owned by about 550 million people worldwide, and for 400 million it is the mother tongue. Spanish is the official language of Mexico - it is spoken by about 120 million Mexicans. In addition to Mexico, the United States (41 million people), Argentina (42 million people), Colombia (45 million people) and others are classified as countries with a significant Hispanic population. According to official figures, the UN working language is most widely spoken in 31 states. Spanish is considered the easiest to learn.
2. Chinese | 1.3 billion people
Chinese (33 countries) is one of the most widely spoken languages on the whole planet. About 1.2 billion people in the PRC own it, and more than 1.3 billion people speak it all over the world. Chinese is classified as the official languages of Singapore and Taiwan, as well as the official working languages of the UN. In Russia, the number of speakers in Chinese is approximately 71 thousand. 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. English | 1.5 billion people
English (99 countries) is the most popular language that spans 99 countries. Its carrier are 340 British, and 1.5 billion people own it throughout the earth. The United States has the largest number of Anglophones, which number about 215 million. In the UK, 58 million speak English, 18 million in Canada, etc. This is one of the working languages of the UN. About 90% of all world information is stored in English, and about 70% of scientific publications are also published in this language. It is an international language of communication and the most studied in the world. According to some forecasts, after about 50 years, every second inhabitant of the planet will be English-speaking.