The most multilingual countries in the world – ranking

The most multilingual countries in the world – ranking

We take a look at the most multilingual countries in the world, from Papua New Guinea with over 800 languages ​​to the one country with just a single language

As guardians of the world's lingua franca, we English people have little incentive to learn a second language. A few years of irregular teaching by struggling GCSE teachers is nowhere near enough to teach multilingualism on a personal level.

This is a shame because at a country level the UK has a very healthy level of multilingualism. There are 56 languages ​​spoken in its countries, meaning that if we chose, we could probably learn a new language from someone who speaks another.

Ethnologue, the leading authority on languages, has ranked the world's most multilingual countries based on the number of living languages ​​spoken within their borders.

alt="Multilingual Countries of the World PNG">Kaijankoski; CC BY-SA 2.0The most multilingual countries in the world are not necessarily overcrowded

It is important to note that the ranking is not a measure of multilingualism on a personal level (i.e. the number of people who speak more than one language), but of the world's most multilingual countries – a count of the number of languages ​​used as the first language in the country.

Papua New Guinea takes the top spot with a staggering 839 languages. This diversity can be largely explained by the country's topography: deep valleys and rugged terrain separated hundreds of different clans for centuries, giving rise to different languages ​​and customs.

The country has a relatively small population of seven million, meaning it is incredibly likely that two randomly selected people will have different native languages.

alt=“Borobudur in Indonesia, the most multilingual country”>Pambudi Yoga Perdana/ShutterstockIndonesia is the second largest multilingual country

Can you guess which country is the least multilingual? It only has one language within its borders and therefore no chance of two randomly selected people having different native languages.

NORTH KOREA – which is predictable once you know the answer. This Asian country is notoriously insular, with vice-like controls on the press, freedom of speech, movement and association.

It's not surprising that small countries and islands make up the rest of the bottom five: the British Indian Ocean Territory has one language, while the Vatican City, Tokelau and San Marino, among others, have just two.

Interestingly, Cuba only has five languages, which is partly explained by the fact that it is an island nation, but perhaps also by its history of political isolation.

The most multilingual countries in the world – ranking

The full ranking of the world's most multilingual countries can be found below. “Total” shows the total number of languages ​​spoken as first languages ​​in the country. This sum is then divided into indigenous (Ind.) and immigrant (Imm.) languages.

Source: ethnologist

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