There are thousands of languages, and many are only spoken by small populations. However, some languages are spoken by enormous swaths of the Earth. There are many languages with hundreds of millions of speakers or even more.
According to Berlitz, these are the languages that are most spoken in the world today.
English
As the most spoken language in the world, more than 1.4 billion people speak it. It’s considered a standard language for business as well as technology and tourism. About 373 million speak it as their first language.
Mandarin
More than 1.1 billion people speak Mandarin. About 929 billion people learned it as their first language. The language is a collection of dialects rather than a set language.
Hindi
With more than 602 million speakers, it’s one of the world’s most common languages. There are 22 official languages of India, and Hindi is one of them. About 344 million speak it as their first language.
Spanish
Spanish is the most commonly spoken Romance language, and online it’s the third most common language. It has 474 million first-language speakers and about 548 million speakers overall.
French
29 countries speak French, and it’s spoken by 280 million people around the world. Only about 80 million of them learned French as their first language.
Modern Standard Arabic
This language doesn’t have any native speakers, but it has 274 million other speakers. It’s a language that is largely academic and used in things like movies and newspapers so that people of various dialects can all understand what’s presented.
Bengali
This language is Bangladesh’s official language. It’s also spoken by some people in Burma and India. About 272 million people speak this language, and about 233 million speak it as a first language.
Russian
Because so many countries used to be a part of the U.S.S.R., people in many countries speak Russian. It’s commonly spoken in 19 countries. About 258 million people speak it with 154 million being first-language speakers.
Portuguese
Nine countries speak Portuguese, and they’re spread out across Asia, South America, Europe, and Africa. About 257 million people speak Portuguese, and about 232 million speak it as their first language.
Urdu
This language is spoken by 231 million people and is one of Pakistan’s two official languages. It’s also used in parts of India. People who speak Hindi can often understand this language, and vice versa.
Indonesian
The country of Indonesia has more than 200 spoken languages. Indonesian is spoken by about 199 million people, but only about 43 million of them learn it as their first language. It’s often learned to be able to communicate with others amid the many languages in the country.
German
German is spoken as a first language by more than 75 million people. Learning German is popular around the world, and 134 million people in total speak this guttural language.
Japanese
Only one country, Japan, speaks Japanese. Within the country, 99% of people speak this as their first language. More than 125 million people speak this language, so many people study it to get to know Japanese culture.
Nigerian Pidgin
More than 120 million people speak this language, but only 4.7 million speak it as their native language. This language is growing rapidly as the population of Nigeria skyrockets.
Marathi
In India, the third biggest language is Marathi. It’s spoken by 99 million people and is one of the world’s oldest languages. It’s stayed as it is for the past 1,300 years.
The 15 States Bursting at the Seams With People
Some states have a high population density and many population centers. Others are mostly rural and may have little population. The difference between the top and bottom states in terms of population is enormous.
According to World Population Review, these are the top 15 states for population.
The 15 States Bursting at the Seams With People
These 15 States Are the Safest States in the USA
Some states are safer than others, and this is a big influence on where people move. Places with a low level of public safety have a lot of crime, and this can prevent the public from wanting to move there and even visit.
There are various types of crime, with violent crime and property crime being highly important to the public safety rating of each state.
These 15 States Are the Safest States in the USA
The 11 Most Dishonest Cities in America
Picture this: you find a stack of cash. Do you pocket the unexpected windfall, or do you take the noble route and hand it in to the police?
In this scenario, a significant 47% of Americans admit they would keep the found money, assuming no one saw their stroke of luck. Interestingly, gender doesn’t play a big role, with both women (47.4%) and men (46.6%) expressing similar inclinations to be tempted by the cash.
The 11 Most Dishonest Cities in America
The 15 Countries That Have More Filthy Rich People Than Others
There are rich people around the world, but there are some areas that have more wealthy residents than others. When looking at how many millionaires there are in each country, it isn’t even remotely even.
There are major wealth centers in certain countries that represent far more wealth than exists in other areas. It’s amazing how many millionaires there are; this is where they’re located.
The 15 Countries That Have More Filthy Rich People Than Others
15 Countries That You Will Probably Regret Traveling To
There are some countries where the majority of visitors love their experience. However, there are other countries that people come back from and never recommend to anyone. These countries often have circumstances that make the trip miserable so that visitors can’t wait to leave and go home.
15 Countries That You Will Probably Regret Traveling To