List of languages by number of native speakers

For various estimates of the total speakers of the top dozen languages, see List of languages by total number of speakers.

The following tables list languages with more than three million estimated native speakers, ordered by number of speakers.

Since the definition of a single language is to some extent arbitrary, some mutually intelligible idioms with separate national standards or self-identification have been listed together, including Hindi-Urdu; Indonesian and Malay; Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian; Punjabi; Tibetan, etc.

The primary estimates used for this list are those of SIL Ethnologue.[1] Other estimates will vary, and the numbers should be taken as no more than an indication of the rough order of magnitude of a linguistic community.

Figures are accompanied by dates the data was collected; for many languages, an old date means that the current number of speakers will be substantially greater. A range of dates means that the figure is the sum of data from more than one country and from different years.

Contents

More than 100 million native speakers


Language Family Native[1] Total[1] Other estimates Rank
Mandarin Sino-Tibetan,
Chinese		 845 million (2000) 1025 1025 million One of the six official languages of the United Nations.
All varieties of Chinese language: 1,200 million (2000)		 1
Spanish
(Castilian)		 Indo-European,
Romance		 329 million (1986–2000) 0390 390 million 400 million native.[2] 500 million total (2009)[3]

One of the six official languages of the United Nations.

 2
English Indo-European,
Germanic		 328 million (2000–2006) 0 — Approximately 375 million L1 speakers, 375 million L2 speakers, and 750 million EFL speakers. Totaling about 1.5 billion speakers.[4]

One of the six official languages of the United Nations.

 3
Hindi-Urdu
(Hindustani)		 Indo-European,
Indic		 240 million (1991–1997) 0405 405 million (1999) 490 million total speakers.[5] 4
Arabic Afro-Asiatic,
Semitic		 206 million (1999), 221 million, 232 million
(206M is 'all Arabic varieties'; 221M is Arabic 'macrolanguage', not counting Hassaniya; 232M is sum of counts for all dialects)		 0452 452 million (1999) 280 million native.[6]

One of the six official languages of the United Nations.

 5
Bengali Indo-European,
Indic		 181 million (1997–2001) 0250 250 million 6–7
Portuguese Indo-European,
Romance		 178 million (1998) 0193 193 million 220 million native, 240 million total.[7]

Ethnologue estimate misses ~12 million in Angola

 6–7
Russian Indo-European,
Slavic		 144 million (2002) 0250 250 million One of the six official languages of the United Nations.[8] 8
Japanese Japonic 122 million (1985) 0123 123 million 9
Punjabi Indo-European,
Indic		 109 million (2000)
All varieties: Lahnda, Seraiki, Hindko, Mirpur		 0 — 10

50 to 100 million native speakers

Language Family Native[1] Total[1] Other estimates
German Indo-European, Germanic 90 million (standard German, 1990) 118 million 101 million native (2005: 82 million in Germany, 8 million in Austria, 5 million in Switzerland), 60 million second language in EU[9] + 5–20 million worldwide.
Javanese Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 85 million (2000) —
Wu
(Shanghainese)		 Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 77 million (1984) — 90 million,[10] Shanghainese is not mutually intelligible with some other Wu dialects/languages.
Marathi Indo-European, Indic 75 million (1997)
(including Varhadi)		 3 million L2 72 million (2001 census)[11]
Telugu Dravidian 70 million (1997) 75 million 84.6 million (2011 census)[11]
Vietnamese Austro-Asiatic, Viet–Muong 69 million (1999) — 86 million total?
French Indo-European, Romance 68 million (2005) 120 million 128 million "native and real speakers" (includes 65 million French people[12], 72 million "bilinguals"[13]. More than 200 million native and second language.[14][15]

One of the six official languages of the United Nations.[8]
Korean language isolate 66 million (1986) — 72 million (2010 WA)
Tamil Dravidian 66 million (1997) 74 million 61 million (2001 census)[11]
Yue
(Cantonese)		 Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 56 million (1984) — 70 million[16]
Turkish Turkic, Oghuz 51 million (1987) — 74 & 83 million (2005)[9]
Turk-Azeri-Turkmen = 80 million (1987–2007) per Ethnologue figures.
Pashto Indo-European, Iranian 50 million (2009) — 50 to 60 million[17][18][19][20]
Italian Indo-European, Romance — 62 million (no date) Figure includes "bilinguals" who do not use standard Italian as their main language, who may account for nearly half the population in Italy

30 to 50 million native speakers

Language Family Native[1] Total[1] Other estimates
Min Nan
(Amoy, Hokkien, Taiwanese)		 Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 47 million (1984–1997) —
Gujarati Indo-European, Indic 46 million (1997) —
Polish Indo-European, Slavic 40 million (1986)
Persian Indo-European, Iranian 39 million (1991–2000)
incl. Dari, Tajik, Hazara		 — Data from Uzbekistan highly uncertain.
63 million (Encyclopedia of Orient)[21] 59 million 2009 CIA Factbook (Afghan Persian, Iranian Persian and Tajiki are considered dialects of one language);[22][23][24][25][26] ca. 60-70 million, as their mother tongue (2006 estimates).[27][28][29][30][31]
Bhojpuri Indo-European, Indic 39 million (2007) —
Awadhi Indo-European, Indic 38 million (2001) — Often included in Hindi, but not in Hindi-Urdu. Separate literature.
Ukrainian Indo-European, Slavic 37 million (1993) —
Malay
(Malaysian-Indonesian)		 Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 37 million (2000) 180 million
Xiang
(Hunanese)		 Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 36 million (1984) —
Malayalam Dravidian 36 million (1997) —
Kannada Dravidian 35 million (1997) 44 million
Maithili Indo-European, Indic 35 million (2000) —
Sundanese Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 34 million (2000 census) —
Burmese Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman 32 million (2000) 42 million 50-56 million total speakers, including 18 to 23 million as second language (Myanmar Language Commission)
Oriya Indo-European, Indic 32 million (1997) — 2001 Indian Census: 33,017,446.[32]
Marwari Indo-European, Indic 31 million (undated) — Sometimes included in Rajasthani. The sum of speakers of individual dialects is 23M (2001–2007).
Hakka Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 30 million (1984) —

10 to 30 million native speakers

Language Family Native[1] Total[1] Other estimate
Thai Tai–Kadai, Tai 26 million (2000)
20M Central (Siamese) + 6M Northern		 60 million (2001) Divergent definitions of what constitutes "Thai".
Hausa Afro-Asiatic, Chadic 25 million (1991) 40 million
Tagalog
(Filipino)		 Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 24 million (2000) (as Tagalog)
25 million (2007) (as Filipino)		 — Perhaps 90% of the population of 85 million can speak Tagalog.
Romanian Indo-European, Romance 23 million (2002) — The Latin Union reports 28 million speakers for Romanian, out of whom 24 million are native speakers of the language[33]
Dutch Indo-European, Germanic 22 million (2007)
27M incl. 5M Afrikaans		 (+ 10 million Afrikaans) 25 million[9][34]
Gan Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 21 million (1984) — 48 million[35]
Sindhi Indo-European, Indic 21 million (2001) — (significant L2 speakers?)
Uzbek Turkic, Uyghur 20 million (1995) — Population has grown substantially since 1995, but figures are exaggerated to hide Persian/Tajik population.
Azerbaijani Turkic, Oghuz 20 million (2001–2006)
22 million including Qashqai		 28 million Data from Iran highly uncertain.
CIA: 26 million native (2010).[36]
Rajasthani Indo-European, Indic 20 million (2000–2003) — Dominant variety is Malvi
Lao–Isan Tai–Kadai, Tai 19 million (1983–1991) 20 million
Yoruba Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger 19 million (1993) 21 million
Igbo Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger 18 million (1999) — 18–25 million[37]
Northern Berber Afro-Asiatic, Berber 15–22 million (Total of Central Atlas Tamazight, Riff, Shilha, Kabylian, Shawia, others.) —
Amharic Afro-Asiatic, Semitic 17.5 million (1994) 22 million Significant L2 speakers.
Oromo Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic 17 million (1994) — 30 million ethnic Oromo. Significant L2 speakers.
Chhattisgarhi Indo-European, Indic 17.5 million (2002) — Frequently counted as "Hindi"
Assamese Indo-European, Indic 16.8 million (2000) — Many L2 speakers
Kurdish Indo-European, Iranian 16 million (1980–2004) — ≈35 million ethnic Kurds ca. 2010, not all of whom speak Kurdish
Serbo-Croatian
(Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian)		 Indo-European, Slavic 16 million —
Sinhalese Indo-European, Indic 16 million (2007) 18 million
Cebuano Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 15.8 million (2000) — Significant L2 speakers
Rangpuri Indo-European, Indic ≈ 15 million (2007) —
Malagasy Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 15 million (2006) —
Khmer Austro-Asiatic, Mon–Khmer 15 million (2006) 16 million
Sotho–Tswana Niger–Congo, Bantu 15 million (2006) — Tswana, Southern Sotho, and the various lects lumped under 'Northern Sotho' are mutually intelligible
Nepali Indo-European, Indic 14 million (2001) — As the national language of Nepal, the number total speakers is closer to 32 million.
Rwanda-Rundi Niger–Congo, Bantu 14 million (1986–1998) Given the populations of Rwanda and Burundi, the 2010 figure is likely 23 million native.
Somali Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic 14 million (2006) —
Madurese Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 14 million (2000)
Haryanvi Indo-European, Indic 13 million (1992) Frequently counted as "Hindi"
Fula
(Fulani, Fulfulde, Pulaar)		 Niger–Congo, Senegambian 13 million (1991–2007)
(all varieties)		 — Significant L2 speakers
Bavarian Indo-European, Germanic 13 million (2005) — Listed figure of 13.26 spuriously precise
Magahi Indo-European, Indic 13 million (2002) Bihari, and so sometimes counted as "Hindi"
Greek Indo-European, Greek 13 million (2002) —
Chittagonian Indo-European, Indic 13 million (2006) sometimes considered a dialect of Bengali, but not mutually intelligible
Deccan Indo-European, Indic 12.8 million (2000) Perhaps the same as the Dakhini "dialect" of Urdu
Hungarian Uralic, Ugric 12.5 million (2001) —
Catalan
(Valencian)		 Indo-European, Romance 11.5 million (2006) 15 million
Shona Niger–Congo, Bantu 10.8 million (2000)
(Shona proper)		 11.6 million 15 million native (2000) including Ndau, Manyika, etc.
Min Bei Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 10.3 million (1984) —
Zulu Niger–Congo, Bantu 10.3 million (2006) 26 million
Sylheti Indo-European, Indic 10 million Similar to Bengali. Ethnologue figure of 10.3 million spuriously precise.

5 to 10 million native speakers

Language Family Native[1] Total Other estimates
Czech Indo-European, Slavic 9.5 million (2001) — 15 million Czech-Slovak
Kanauji Indo-European, Indic 9.5 million (2001) — Generally considered Hindi
Bulgarian Indo-European, Slavic 9.1 million (1986) — 11.2 million Bulgarian-Macedonian
Min Dong
(Fuzhou)		 Sino-Tibetan, Chinese 8.6 million (2000) —
Lombard Indo-European, Romance 9.1 million (2000) —
Uyghur Turkic, Uyghur 8.9 million (2000) —
Chewa
(Nyanja)		 Niger–Congo, Bantu 8.7 million (2001) —
Belarusian Indo-European, Slavic 8.6 million (2001) —
Kazakh Turkic, Kypchak 8.3 million (1979) —
Swedish Indo-European, Germanic 8.3 million (1998) —
Akan
(Twi, Fante)		 Niger–Congo, Kwa 8.3 million 9.3 million 10 million native, ≈20 million total [38]
Makuwa
(Lomwe)		 Niger–Congo, Bantu 8.0 million (2006)
(incl. Lomwe/West Makua)		 —
Tatar-Bashkir Turkic, Kypchak 7.9 million (2002) —
Bagheli Indo-European, Indic 7.9 million (2004) — Generally considered Hindi
Xhosa Niger–Congo, Bantu 7.8 million (2006) —
Haitian French creole 7.7 million (2001) —
Konkani Indo-European, Indic ca. 7.6 million (2001) —
Albanian Indo-European, isolate 7.5 million (1989–2007) —
Gikuyu Niger–Congo, Bantu 7.2 million (undated) —
Neapolitan
(Calabrese)		 Indo-European, Romance 7.0 million (1976) —
Ilokano Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 7.0 million (2000) — significant L2 use
Balochi Indo-European, Iranian 7.0 million (1998) —
Southern Quechua Quechuan 6.9 million (1987–2002) —
Batak Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 6.8 million (1991–2000)
(all varieties)		 —
Turkmen Turkic, Oghuz 6.6 million (1995–1997) —
Mossi-Dagomba Niger–Congo, Gur 6.4 million (1991–2003) — Does not include Frafra.
Armenian Indo-European, isolate 6.4 million (?–2001) —
Sukuma-Nyamwezi Niger–Congo, Bantu 6.4 million (2006) —
Tshiluba
(Luba-Kasai)		 Niger–Congo, Bantu 6.3 million (1991) 7.0 million
Santali Austro-Asiatic, Munda 6.2 million (1997) —
Venetian Indo-European, Romance ≈ 6.2 million (2000–2006) — Incl. ≈ 4M in Brazil.
Kongo Niger–Congo, Bantu ≈ 6 million (?–2007) ≈ 11 million Figures are only approximate.
Hiligaynon Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 5.8 million (2000) — Significant L2 use.
Tigrinya Afro-Asiatic, Semitic 5.8 million (1994–2006) 6.0 million
Mongolian Mongolic 5.7 million (1982–1995) — Some L2 use.
Bhili
(Wagdi, etc.)		 Indo-European, Indic 5.6 million (1998–2007)
(all varieties)		 —
Danish Indo-European, Germanic 5.6 million (2007) —
Minangkabau Austronesian 5.5 million (2007) —
Kashmiri Indo-European, Indic 5.6 million (undated) — data apparently post-2000
Hebrew Afro-Asiatic, Semitic 5.3 million (1998) — Number is L1 use, not nec. native. Significant L2 use.
Finnish Uralic, Finnic 5.1 million (1993) —
Slovak Indo-European, Slavic 5.0 million (2001) — See Czech above.
Afrikaans Indo-European, Germanic 4.9 million (2006) 15.2 million See Dutch above.
Guarani Tupi 4.9 million (1995) —

3 to 5 million native speakers

Language Family Native[1] Total Other estimates
Mandingo
(Maninka)		 Mande 4.8 million (1986–2006) — L2 use.
Sicilian Indo-European, Romance 4.8 million (2000) —
Norwegian Indo-European, Germanic 4.6 million (no date) — 4.7 million (2006, Statistics Norway)
Bikol Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 4.6 million (2000)
(all varieties)		 — L2 use.
Bambara
(Malinke, Jula)		 Mande ≈ 4.5 million (1990–1995) — Widespread as L2, over 10 million
Southern Thai Tai–Kadai, Tai 4.5 million (2006) —
Dholuo
(Luo proper)		 Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Nilotic 4.4 million (undated) — (data apparently after 2000)
Georgian Kartvelian 4.3 million (1993) —
Kituba Kikongo-based creole 4.2 million (1990) 5 million Widely used as L2
Kanuri
(Kanembu)		 Nilo-Saharan, Saharan ≈ 4.2 million (1985–2006) ≈ 4.8 million 3 of the 4.2 M is a rough estimate from 1985
Wolof Niger–Congo, Senegambian 4.2 million (2006) — Significant L2 use.
Ganda
(Luganda)		 Niger–Congo, Bantu 4.1 million (2002) ≈ 5 million (1999)
Umbundu
(South Mbundu)		 Niger–Congo, Bantu ≈ 4 million (1995) — L2 use.
Kamba Niger–Congo, Bantu 4.0 million (undated) 4.6 million Data likely after 2000.
Dogri
(Kangri)		 Indo-European, Indic 3.8 million (1996–1997) —
Tsonga Niger–Congo, Bantu 3.7 million (2006) —
Konkani Indo-European, Indic 3.6 million Goan Konkani (2000)
≈ 7.6 million all varieties		 — There is debate over whether Maharashtra Konkani is actually Konkani or Marathi
Luyia Niger–Congo, Bantu 3.6 million (1989) — Scope of language has been changed, but without complete data available.
Bemba Niger–Congo, Bantu 3.6 million (2001) — Significant L2 use.
Buginese Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian ≈ 3.5 million (1991) ≈ 4 million
Efik
(Ibibio–Efik)		 Niger–Congo, Cross River (≈ 3½ million, 1990–1998)
(incl. Anaang)		 (≈ 5½ million) Ethnologue has rescinded its data for Ibibio.
Acehnese Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 3.5 million (2000) — L2 use.
Balinese Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian 3.3 million (2000) — 3.9 million (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk)
Mazanderani–Gilaki Indo-European, Iranian 3.3 million (1993) —
Shan Tai–Kadai, Tai 3.3 million (2001) —
Lithuanian Indo-European, Baltic 3.2 million (1998) —
Galician Indo-European, Romance 3.2 million (1986) — Portuguese and Galician are dialects.
Jamaican Creole English creole 3.2 million (2001) —
Shan Tai–Kadai, Tai 3.2 million (2001) —
Ewe Niger–Congo, Kwa 3.1 million (1991–2003) 3.6 million
Piemonteis Indo-European, Romance 3.1 million (2000) —
Kimbundu
(North Mbundu)		 Niger–Congo, Bantu ≈ 3 million (1999) —
Kyrgyz Turkic, Kypchak 2.9 million (1993) —

Other languages frequently cited as having more than 3 million speakers

Some languages are widely cited as having more speakers than the sources for this article allow, due to discrepancies in the conception of language. Differences may be due to defining a language along ethnic lines rather than by degree of comprehension (Tibetan, Hmong), large numbers of L2 speakers who use the language on a daily basis (Swahili, Lingala), or a suspected but undocumented number (Chinese Sign Language). Numerous cases where estimates disagree without some such extenuating circumstance are not listed.

Language Family Native Total Other estimates
Chinese Sign Language language isolate — — Perhaps the most populous sign language; number of speakers (signers) unknown.
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language language isolate 2.7 million in India (2003) — Additional speakers (signers) in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Zhuang Tai–Kadai, Tai 2.65 million Buyei (2000),
2.0 million Yongbei Zhuang (2007)		 — 15 million all varieties (2001–2007). Not mutually intelligible. Ethnologue divides Zhuang into 16 languages.
Hmong Hmong–Mien 2.7 million Not mutually intelligible with other Hmongic languages. Cited figures dependent on conception of "Hmong": 7.8 million (2006); ca. 4 million (Lemoine, 2005)
Lingala Niger–Congo, Bantu 2.1 million ≈ 9 million (1999) in DR Congo L2 also in Congo-Brazzaville. Per Britannica (2005 Yearbook), > 36 million speak Lingala as lingua franca.
Yi (Nuosu) Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman 2 million Not mutually intelligible with other Yi languages. Cited figures dependent on conception of "Yi": 4.2 million (2006), 7.8 million ethnic Yi (2000 census)
Central Tibetan (Dbus / Ü) Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman 1.3 million (1990) — Not mutually intelligible with other Tibetan languages. Cited figures dependent on conception of "Tibetan".
Swahili Niger–Congo, Bantu 800 thousand (1994–2006) 40 million (1991–2006) ~5 million native, ~80 million second language

Additional languages

The following are languages which were not properly sourced for where they were included, or which have not yet been added
Varhadi-Nagpuri vah 7.0
Lambadi lmn 6.0
Mewati wtm 5.0
Mainfränkisch vmf 4.9
Domari rmt 4.0
Musi mui 3.9
Mina myi 3.8
Banjar bjn 3.5
Hassaniyya mey 3.1 [already counted under Arabic]
Godwari gdx 3.0
Hunsrik hrx 3.0

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Ethnologue". SIL Haley. http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size. 
  2. ^ Demografía de la lengua española (page 38)
  3. ^ krysstal.com, 5th International Congress on Spanish Language (la-moncloa.es),uis.edu, Antonio Molina, director of the Instituto Cervantes in 2006 (terranoticias.es,elmundo.es, fundeu.es), Luis María Anson of the Real Academia Española (elcultural.es),International Congress about Spanish, 2008, Mario Melgar of the México University (lllf.uam.es), Enrique Díaz de Liaño Argüelles, director of Celer Solutions multilingual translation network ([1]), Feu Rosa - Spanish in Mercosur (congresosdelalengua.es), elpais.com, eumed.net, [2], babel-linguistics.com.
  4. ^ "Future of English". The British Council. http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-elt-future.pdf. Retrieved 2011-08-24.  (page 10)
  5. ^ "A guide to Urdu - why learn Urdu?". Languages: Other. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/guide/urdu/steps.shtml. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  6. ^ Procházka, S. (2006), ""Arabic"", Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd ed.)
  7. ^ "IOL Diário - Somos 240 milhões de falantes". Diario.iol.pt. 2008-07-16. http://diario.iol.pt/sociedade/lingua-portuguesa-portugues-ensino-governo-alunos/972503-4071.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
  8. ^ a b Contributor: flamiejamie (2008-06-26). "Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World". Listverse. http://listverse.com/miscellaneous/top-10-most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
  9. ^ a b c "Europeans and Languages". European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-02-18. 
  10. ^ "Wu definition - Dictionaries - MSN Encarta". Uk.encarta.msn.com. http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861758362/Wu.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
  11. ^ a b c "Census of India - Statement 4". Censusindia.gov.in. http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement4.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
  12. ^ http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/document.asp?ref_id=ip1332
  13. ^ http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/dossiers/francophonie/francophones-monde.shtml
  14. ^ Posted by 데이빛 / Mithridates (2008-10-15). "French in 9th place with 200 million French speakers in the world / 200 millions de francophones dans le monde". Page F30. http://www.pagef30.com/2008/10/french-in-9th-place-with-200-million.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
  15. ^ "200 million French speakers in the world - La France en Australie". Ambafrance-au.org. http://www.ambafrance-au.org/france_australie/spip.php?article2223. Retrieved 2010-03-16. 
  16. ^ "Cantonese language". Encarta Dictionary. http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?lextype=3&search=cantonese. Retrieved 11 February 2010. 
  17. ^ Penzl, Herbert; Ismail Sloan (2009). A Grammar of Pashto a Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ishi Press International. pp. 210. ISBN 0923891722. http://books.google.com/?id=zvRePgAACAAJ. Retrieved 2010-10-25. "Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40 million to 60 million..." 
  18. ^ "Pashto". Omniglot.com. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/pashto.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-25. "The exact number of Pashto speakers is not known for sure, but most estimates range from 45 million to 55 million." 
  19. ^ Thomson, Gale (2007). Countries of the World & Their Leaders Yearbook 08. 2. European Union: Indo-European Association. p. 84. ISBN 0787681083. http://books.google.com/?id=A6vQ-x7V-bYC. Retrieved 2010-10-25. 
  20. ^ Paul M. Lewis, ed (2009). "Pashto, Northern". SIL International. Dallas, Texas: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pbu. Retrieved 2010-09-18. "Ethnic population: 49,529,000 possibly total Pashto in all countries." 
  21. ^ Persian language in Encyclopedia of Orient
  22. ^ R. Khanam, "Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: J-O, Volume 2", Global Vision Publishing Ho, 2005. pg 730:"The Standard Tajiki dialect is mutually intelligble with the Persian of Iran and the Dari of Afghanistan and is increasingly being called either Farsi-Tojiki or Farsi (Persian)"
  23. ^ David Levinson, Karen Christensen, "Encyclopedia of modern Asia", Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. pg 50: "The most important modern languages of the Iranian family are (West Iranian) Persian (Farsi, Dari, and Tajiki), Tati, Baluchi, Zaza, and numerous unwritten "
  24. ^ Bernard Lewis, "The Middle East: a brief history of the last 2,000 years",Simon and Schuster, 1995. pg 247: "Persian- Zaban-i Farsi, the language of the province of Fars, or Pars, from which the Greek and hence the Western names of the country are derived – was spoken and written in Iran (the ancient name of the country), and in a zone extending eastward into Central Asia, in regions now included in Afghanistan and in the republic of Tajikistan. Tajik and also Dari, one of the two languages of Afghanistan (the other is Pashto, also of Iranic family), are variants of Persian
  25. ^ Bernard Lewis,"The multiple identities of the Middle East", Schocken Books, 1998. ISBN-0805241728, 9780805241723 pg. 55: "Apart from Iran, Persian has official status in two other countries; in Afghanistan, where the local form of Persian is known as Dari, and in the former soviet Republic of Tajikistan.
  26. ^ 2009 CIA Factbook: Iran:[3][4] (Persian and Persian dialects 58%) (38.514), Afghanistan [5], Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50% (14.1), Tajikistan 79.9% (5.8 million), Uzbekistan (4.7% 1 million),
  27. ^ Iran 36 M (51%) - 46 M (65%) [6], Afghanistan 16.369 M (50%), Tajikistan 5.770 M (80%), Uzbekistan 1.2 M (4.4%)
  28. ^ Svante E. Cornell, "Uzbekistan: A Regional Player in Eurasian Geopolitics?", European Security, vol. 20, no. 2, Summer 2000.
  29. ^ Richard Foltz, "The Tajiks of Uzbekistan", Central Asian Survey, 15(2), 213–216 (1996).
  30. ^ Karl Cordell, "Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe", Published by Routledge, 1999. Excerpt from pg 201: "Consequently, the number of citizens who regard themselves as Tajiks is difficult to determine. Tajikis within and outside of the republic, Samarkand State University (SamGU) academic and international commentators suggest that there may be between six and seven million Tajiks in Uzbekistan, constituting 30% of the republic's 22 million population, rather than the official figure of 4.7%(Foltz 1996;213; Carlisle 1995:88).
  31. ^ Lena Jonson, "Tajikistan in the New Central Asia", Published by I.B.Tauris, 2006. pg 108: "According to official Uzbek statistics there are slightly over 1 million Tajiks in Uzbekistan or about 4% of the population. The unofficial figure is over 6 million Tajiks. They are concentrated in the Sukhandarya, Samarqand and Bukhara regions."
  32. ^ http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm
  33. ^ Latin Union - The odyssey of languages: ro, es, fr, it, pt
  34. ^ "Het Nederlandse taalgebied" (in Dutch). Taalpeil. Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061231075139/http://taalunieversum.org/taalpeil/het_nederlandse_taalgebied.html. Retrieved 2007-02-18. 
  35. ^ http://ling.cass.cn/fangyan/dituji/LANGUAGE%20ATLAS%20OF%20CHINA.html
  36. ^ 18.5M Iran, 7.5M Azerbaijan
  37. ^ Austin, Peter (2008). One thousand languages: living, endangered, and lost. University of California Press. p. 68. ISBN 0-520-25560-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC&pg=PA68. 
  38. ^ http://www.plc.sas.upenn.edu/languages/twi.html

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