Language
Armenian
Yerevan, Armenia
Armenian is written in its own alphabet, created by Mesrop Mashtots in about 405 CE. It forms a branch of the Indo-European family on its own.
Say hello: Բարեւ (Barev) · Script: Armenian
Map / Language
Languages of the world: where they are spoken and where they began
Language is one of the clearest ways culture shows itself. This page lists the languages, scripts and writing traditions on the atlas, grouped by country, with a place strongly linked to each.
Open a language pin to read a short summary, and where your device has a voice for it, use Greeting audio to hear a hello. Language pins mark a place linked to the language, not the full area where it is spoken.
57 pins in 40 countries.
Jump to a country
- Armenia 1
- Bangladesh 1
- Canada 1
- China 3
- Egypt 1
- Ethiopia 1
- France 1
- Georgia 1
- Germany 1
- Greece 1
- Iceland 1
- India 9
- Indonesia 1
- Iran 1
- Ireland 1
- Israel 1
- Italy 2
- Japan 2
- Malta 1
- Mongolia 1
- Nepal 1
- Netherlands 1
- New Zealand 1
- Nigeria 2
- Norway 1
- Pakistan 1
- Peru 1
- Poland 1
- Portugal 1
- Russia 1
- South Africa 1
- South Korea 1
- Spain 2
- Sri Lanka 1
- Tanzania 1
- Thailand 1
- Turkey 1
- United Kingdom 2
- United States 3
- Vietnam 1
Questions about language
What is the most spoken language in the world?
It depends on how you count. By total speakers (native plus second-language), English is usually ranked first at roughly 1.5 billion, ahead of Mandarin Chinese at roughly 1.1 billion. By native speakers only, Mandarin Chinese ranks first, followed by Spanish, English and Hindi. Sources such as Ethnologue and national censuses give different estimates.
What is the oldest language in the world?
There is no agreed answer, because every living language has changed continuously from earlier forms and speech leaves no direct record. The oldest written languages known are Sumerian and Egyptian, which appear in writing around 3000 BCE or slightly earlier. Among languages still spoken, Tamil, Greek, Hebrew, Chinese and Basque can all point to very long histories; which counts as oldest depends on the definition.
How many languages are there in the world?
Roughly 7,000 living languages by Ethnologue-style counts, and about 40 percent are considered endangered. Counts vary because the line between a language and a dialect is not fixed.
What is the hardest language to learn?
It depends on your first language. For English speakers, the US Foreign Service Institute puts languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic in its hardest group, estimating about 88 weeks of full-time study. Motivation, time and exposure matter as much as the language itself.
Language: Armenia
Language: Bangladesh
Language
Bengali
Dhaka, Bangladesh
International Mother Language Day on 21 February honours the 1952 language movement in Dhaka, when people protested for Bengali to be recognised.
Say hello: নমস্কার (Nomoshkar) · Script: Bengali
Language: Canada
Language
Inuktitut
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
An Inuit language of the Canadian Arctic, written in syllabics in much of Nunavut. It is one of the territory's official languages.
Say hello: ᑕᓪᓕᒪᐅᑦ (Taalimaut) · Script: Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
Language: China
Language
Tibetan
Lhasa, Tibet, China
Tibetan is written in a script based on Indian models from the 7th century and preserves a huge body of Buddhist literature.
Say hello: བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས (Tashi delek) · Script: Tibetan
Language
Mandarin Chinese
Beijing, China
Spoken by more native speakers than any other language. It is written in characters, each standing for a syllable and meaning, and uses four tones.
Say hello: 你好 (Nǐ hǎo) · Script: Chinese characters
Language
Cantonese
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
A Chinese language with six to nine tones, spoken in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau and by many overseas communities.
Say hello: 你好 (Nei hou) · Script: Chinese characters
Language: Egypt
Language
Arabic
Cairo, Egypt
Arabic is written from right to left and spoken in many regional varieties across the Middle East and North Africa.
Say hello: مرحبا (Marhaba) · Script: Arabic, right to left
Language: Ethiopia
Language
Amharic
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Amharic is a working language of Ethiopia's federal government, written in the Ge'ez script, where each symbol stands for a consonant plus a vowel.
Say hello: ሰላም (Selam) · Script: Ge'ez (Ethiopic)
Language: France
Language
French
Paris, France
A Romance language that spread to the Americas, Africa and Asia, and is an official language in dozens of countries.
Say hello: Bonjour · Script: Latin
Language: Georgia
Language
Georgian
Tbilisi, Georgia
Georgian has its own distinctive alphabet and belongs to the Kartvelian family, which is unrelated to its neighbours' languages.
Say hello: გამარჯობა (Gamarjoba) · Script: Georgian (Mkhedruli)
Language: Germany
Language
German
Berlin, Germany
German is famous for long compound words and is spoken across several European countries. Luther's 16th-century Bible translation shaped the standard written form.
Say hello: Hallo / Guten Tag · Script: Latin
Language: Greece
Language
Greek
Athens, Greece
The Greek alphabet has been in use for nearly three thousand years and gave rise to the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
Say hello: Γεια σου (Yia sou) · Script: Greek alphabet
Language: Iceland
Language
Icelandic
Reykjavík, Iceland
Icelandic has changed so little that many Icelanders can read medieval sagas written 800 years ago. New words are often coined from old roots.
Say hello: Halló / Góðan daginn · Script: Latin with þ and ð
Language: India
Language
Hindi
Delhi, India
Hindi, written in Devanagari, is one of India's official languages and is widely spoken across northern India and beyond.
Say hello: नमस्ते (Namaste) · Script: Devanagari
Language
Tamil
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Tamil has a literary history of more than two thousand years and is one of India's classical languages.
Say hello: வணக்கம் (Vanakkam) · Script: Tamil
Language
Punjabi
Amritsar, Punjab, India
Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhi script in India and the Shahmukhi script in Pakistan. It is known for its folk songs and for the Sikh scriptures.
Say hello: ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ (Sat Sri Akal) · Script: Gurmukhi
Language
Telugu
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
A classical Dravidian language with a rounded script, spoken by tens of millions of people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Say hello: నమస్కారం (Namaskaram) · Script: Telugu
Language
Malayalam
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
The language of Kerala, written in a script whose circular letters suit writing on palm leaves. Its literature goes back to the medieval period.
Say hello: നമസ്കാരം (Namaskaram) · Script: Malayalam
Language
Marathi
Pune, Maharashtra, India
The language of Maharashtra, with a literary tradition that includes the saint-poets of the Bhakti movement such as Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram.
Say hello: नमस्कार (Namaskar) · Script: Devanagari
Language
Gujarati
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Gujarati has its own script without the headline stroke of Devanagari. Gujarati communities have carried it around the world.
Say hello: નમસ્તે (Namaste) · Script: Gujarati
Language
Kannada
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
A classical Dravidian language of Karnataka with a literary history of over a thousand years.
Say hello: ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ (Namaskara) · Script: Kannada
Language
Sanskrit
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
An ancient language of the Vedas, epics and classical grammar. Pāṇini's rules for it, written around the 4th century BCE, are a landmark of linguistics. Varanasi is a long-standing centre of its study.
Say hello: नमस्ते (Namaste) · Script: Devanagari (and many others)
Language: Indonesia
Language
Indonesian
Jakarta, Indonesia
A national language that unites hundreds of ethnic groups. It is based on Malay and has fairly simple grammar and spelling.
Say hello: Halo / Selamat pagi · Script: Latin
Language: Iran
Language
Persian (Farsi)
Tehran, Iran
Persian has a long literary tradition that includes poets such as Rumi, Hafez and Ferdowsi.
Say hello: سلام (Salaam) · Script: Persian, Arabic-based
Language: Ireland
Language
Irish (Gaeilge)
Galway, Ireland
Irish is a Celtic language and the first official language of Ireland. Irish-speaking Gaeltacht communities lie west of Galway.
Say hello: Dia dhuit · Script: Latin
Language: Israel
Language
Hebrew
Tel Aviv, Israel
An ancient language revived as an everyday spoken language from the late 19th century, largely through the work of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda.
Say hello: שלום (Shalom) · Script: Hebrew, right to left
Language: Italy
Language
Italian
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Modern standard Italian grew largely out of the Tuscan dialect used by Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio.
Say hello: Ciao / Buongiorno · Script: Latin
Language
Latin
Rome, Italy
The language of ancient Rome and the ancestor of Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. It remained the language of scholarship in Europe for many centuries.
Say hello: Salve · Script: Latin
Language: Japan
Language
Japanese
Tokyo, Japan
Japanese is written with three scripts used together: Chinese-derived kanji and the two syllabaries, hiragana and katakana.
Say hello: こんにちは (Konnichiwa) · Script: Kanji, hiragana, katakana
Language
Ainu
Shiraoi, Hokkaido, Japan
Ainu, the language of the Indigenous people of Hokkaido, is classed by UNESCO as critically endangered. The Upopoy centre in Shiraoi works to promote it.
Say hello: Irankarapte · Script: Katakana or Latin
Language: Malta
Language
Maltese
Valletta, Malta
The only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet and an official language of the EU. Its core is Arabic-derived with many Italian and English words.
Say hello: Bongu · Script: Latin
Language: Mongolia
Language
Mongolian
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Mongolian is written in Cyrillic today, but the older vertical script, written from top to bottom, is still taught and used in ceremonies.
Say hello: Сайн байна уу (Sain baina uu) · Script: Cyrillic and traditional vertical script
Language: Nepal
Language
Nepali
Kathmandu, Nepal
The official language of Nepal and a common language between many ethnic groups in the Himalayan region.
Say hello: नमस्ते (Namaste) · Script: Devanagari
Language: Netherlands
Language
Dutch
Amsterdam, Netherlands
A Germanic language spoken in the Netherlands and Flanders. Afrikaans in South Africa grew out of 17th-century Dutch.
Say hello: Hallo / Goedendag · Script: Latin
Language: New Zealand
Language
Māori (te reo Māori)
Wellington, New Zealand
Te reo Māori became an official language of New Zealand in 1987 and has been revitalised through immersion schools.
Say hello: Kia ora · Script: Latin with macrons
Language: Nigeria
Language
Yoruba
Ibadan, Nigeria
A tonal language of southwestern Nigeria, spoken by tens of millions and known for its proverbs, poetry and drum language.
Say hello: Báwo ni · Script: Latin with tone marks
Language
Hausa
Kano, Nigeria
A major trade language of West Africa, spoken as a first or second language by tens of millions of people across the Sahel.
Say hello: Sannu · Script: Latin and Ajami (Arabic-based)
Language: Norway
Language
North Sámi
Karasjok, Norway
North Sámi is spoken in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Sámi Parliament of Norway sits in Karasjok.
Say hello: Buorre beaivi · Script: Latin with extra letters
Language: Pakistan
Language
Urdu
Lahore, Pakistan
Urdu, written in a flowing Perso-Arabic script, is the national language of Pakistan and is also widely spoken in India. It has a rich tradition of poetry such as the ghazal.
Say hello: السلام علیکم (Assalam alaikum) · Script: Nastaliq, right to left
Language: Peru
Language
Quechua
Cusco, Peru
The language of the Inca empire is still spoken by millions of people across the Andes.
Say hello: Rimaykullayki · Script: Latin
Language: Poland
Language
Esperanto
Białystok, Poland
Esperanto was created in 1887 by L. L. Zamenhof, who grew up in Białystok, as a neutral language to help people of different nations communicate.
Say hello: Saluton · Script: Latin
Language: Portugal
Language
Portuguese
Lisbon, Portugal
A Romance language that travelled with Portuguese sailors to Brazil, Africa and Asia. Brazil is now its largest speaking community.
Say hello: Olá · Script: Latin
Language: Russia
Language
Russian
Moscow, Russia
Cyrillic, the script used for Russian, is named after Saint Cyril and was developed in the early medieval Slavic world.
Say hello: Здравствуйте (Zdravstvuyte) · Script: Cyrillic
Language: South Africa
Language
Zulu (isiZulu)
Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
The most widely spoken home language in South Africa. It uses click sounds borrowed from neighbouring languages, and 'Sawubona' means 'I see you'.
Say hello: Sawubona · Script: Latin
Language: South Korea
Language
Korean
Seoul, South Korea
Hangul was designed in the 15th century under King Sejong and is known for being systematic and easy to learn.
Say hello: 안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo) · Script: Hangul
Language: Spain
Language
Basque (Euskara)
San Sebastián, Spain
Basque is a language isolate, with no proven relation to any other living language, spoken in northern Spain and southwestern France.
Say hello: Kaixo · Script: Latin
Language
Spanish
Madrid, Spain
Spoken by hundreds of millions of people across Spain and the Americas, with regional differences in pronunciation and vocabulary.
Say hello: Hola · Script: Latin
Language: Sri Lanka
Language
Sinhala
Colombo, Sri Lanka
The language of most Sri Lankans, written in a rounded script. 'Ayubowan' means 'may you live long'.
Say hello: ආයුබෝවන් (Ayubowan) · Script: Sinhala
Language: Tanzania
Language
Swahili
Zanzibar City, Tanzania
A Bantu language with many Arabic loanwords, Swahili connects people across East Africa and grew along the Indian Ocean trading coast.
Say hello: Jambo / Habari · Script: Latin
Language: Thailand
Language
Thai
Bangkok, Thailand
Thai is a tonal language with a looped script traditionally credited to King Ramkhamhaeng in the 13th century.
Say hello: สวัสดี (Sawasdee) · Script: Thai
Language: Turkey
Language
Turkish
Ankara, Turkey
In 1928 Turkey replaced the Arabic script with a Latin alphabet designed to fit Turkish sounds. Turkish is agglutinative: words are built by adding endings.
Say hello: Merhaba · Script: Latin
Language: United Kingdom
Language
Welsh
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
Welsh is a Celtic language spoken by hundreds of thousands of people and taught in schools across Wales.
Say hello: Shwmae / Helo · Script: Latin
Language
Scottish Gaelic
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, United Kingdom
A Celtic language still spoken in the Outer Hebrides and parts of the Highlands, with a growing number of learners and Gaelic-medium schools.
Say hello: Halò · Script: Latin
Language: United States
Language
Navajo (Diné Bizaad)
Window Rock, Arizona, United States
Navajo formed the basis of a code used by Navajo Code Talkers in the Second World War. The Navajo Nation's capital is at Window Rock.
Say hello: Yá'át'ééh · Script: Latin
Language
Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi)
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States
Hawaiian is an official language of Hawaiʻi alongside English, with a revival driven by immersion schools since the 1980s.
Say hello: Aloha · Script: Latin with ʻokina and kahakō
Language
Cherokee (Tsalagi)
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, United States
In the 1820s Sequoyah invented a writing system of 85 symbols for Cherokee, and within a few years a large part of the community was literate in it.
Say hello: ᎣᏏᏲ (Osiyo) · Script: Cherokee syllabary
Language: Vietnam
Language
Vietnamese
Hanoi, Vietnam
Vietnamese uses a Latin-based alphabet developed in the 17th century with many accent marks to show its six tones.
Say hello: Xin chào · Script: Latin with tone marks