The most spoken languages in the world – @shutterstock | pathdoc
When it comes to the ten most spoken languages in the world, the figures usually vary considerably between sources. According to Ethnologue , Chinese (and all its varieties, such as Mandarin and Wu) is by far the most spoken language in the world, with 1.28 billion speakers. That's about 16 percent of the global population. In fact, there are between 7 and 13 major regional groups of Chinese, with Mandarin being the most widely spoken (898 million people).
Spanish, widely spoken in both South America and Spain, is the second most spoken language in the world, with 437 million speakers, according to Ethnologue. English has 372 million speakers, while Arabic has 295 million. The latter encompasses 19 different varieties, of which Egyptian Arabic is the most widely spoken (64.5 million speakers), followed by Algerian Arabic (29.3 million speakers).
When it comes to the world's ten most spoken languages, numbers tend to vary considerably between sources. According to Ethnologue, Chinese (and all of its varieties such as Mandarin and Wu) is by far the most spoken language across the world with 1.28 billion speakers. That's approximately 16 percent of the world's population. Indeed, there are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of the Chinese language and Mandarin is the most spoken (898 million speakers).
Widely spoken in South America as well as Spain, Spanish is the planet's second most widely spoken language with a grand total of 437 million speakers according to Ethnologue. English has 372 million speakers while Arabic has 295 million. The latter includes 19 different varieties, of which Egyptian Arabic is the most spoken (64.5 million speakers), followed by Algerian Arabic (29.3 million speakers).
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