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Top 12 world language statistics, 1994 recalculation
Following is data derived from the 1994 Encyclopedia Brittanica Book of
the Year regarding language populations for the top 12 languages, which
are the baseline set for the Loglan/Lojban project (only the top 6 are
used for Lojban gismu making). Now that the data is on computer, it can
be maintained and updated in future years with some likelihood that the
method of calculation will be fairly consistent each time.
I have tab-compressed the data on 8 character column multiples. Column
1 is native speakers of the language from the BotY. Column 2 is
non-native speakers, speakers of the language as a lingua franca, and
speakers of creoles and other significantly non-standard dialects (e.g.
Catalan and Galician for Spanish, Luxembourgish for German, and
non-Mandarin Chinese.) These numbers also come straight from the BotY.
Ukrainian and Belarussian are considered native Russian speakers, since
I know the differences are more political than linguistic. Urdu and
Malayayam are considered native dialects of Hindi and Malay-Indonesian
respectively.
What is rarely carried in the BotY are speakers of the official language
of a country as a second language. For example, how many
non-native-English speakers in the UK speak English as a second
language. The answer is something less than 100%; so I used the
percentage literacy multiplied by the number of non-native-or-creole
speakers of an official language. For European countries, literacy is
close to 100%, but for 3rd world countries, the number is far less. For
countries with 2 official languages, I further reduced the result of the
above calculation by the ratio of the speakers of the official language
divided by the total speakers of all official languages. The result of
this calculation is considered as an increment to any number of 2nd
language speakers given in column 2. That increment is shown in column
3, and the data used in the calculation is shown in column 4.
(In previous iterations of these statistics, I have used variations on
this method to estimate 2nd language speakers. Creole speakers were
originally treated as native speakers, though I have since learned that
the creoles are sufficiently different from the standard language that a
native speaker knowledge of the standard language is improbable.)
The former Soviet states are a special case, in that Russian (or a
dialect) is an official language in only 3 of the current countries, but
the educational system up to a couple of years ago was built around
Russian as the official language. Because of this, I calculated 2nd
language Russian speakers based on those educated beyond primary grades
(literacy figures are not generally available for these countries), as
if it *were* the native language, but then subtracted the number of
native Russian speakers in the country from this total to determine the
column 3 number. In future years, this number may need to be slowly
prorated downward as a new education system supplants the Russian one,
but this should not have significant effect for at least a decade, as
the older Russian speakers will probably retain their educated knowledge
as long as Russia is the dominant economic power of the region.
Columns 5 and 6 exist for Arabic only , and are an increment based on
countries in which Arabic is the official language or the Muslim
religion is militantly supported by the government (Iran being the major
example). In this case, I determined if there was an excess of
followers of the Muslim religion above the total number of 1st and 2nd
language speakers of Arabic determined in columns 1-4. This excess was
then multiplied by the literacy rate to get a guesstimate of non-Arabic
speakers who might still have considerable knowledge of the language
through religious training. I did not calculate a religion-based number
for countries that are Muslim, but which are unlikely to have
government-sponsored teaching of the language.
Having determined these numbers, the Lojban gismu-making weights are
determined by summing the number of native speakers and 1/2 the total
from all 3 methods of estimating 2nd language speakers (since these 3
methods include an elimination of overlap in the calculation).
The numbers are summarized as follows:
native 2nd/creole+literacy+religion
native+1/2*2nd
normalized weight for 6 languages based on 1.0 total.
Chinese 792.183 310.584+21.957
958.454
.348
Hindi 405.745 56.6+201.225
534.658
.194
English 329.906 163.662+73.214
448.343
.163
Spanish 325.856 7.069+15.723
337.252
.123
Russian 210.772 0+62.456
242.000
.088
Arabic 198.468 0+19.264+48.323
232.262
.084
Bengali 180.290 0+.904
180.742
Portuguese 164.124 6.199+9.238
171.843
Japanese 124.6059 0
124.6059
French 72.589 41.384+23.010
104.786
Malay-Indon. 36.656 .04+133.053
103.203
German 91.616 1.716+7.625
96.287
For comprison, here is the total speakers from the 1987 World Almanac
and the numbers used in the 1987 gismu-remaking effort, which were based
on the 1985 BotY. Note that Hindi passed up English in about 1989 due
to rapidly increasing numbers of native speakers and an increase in
literacy which is continuing. The drop in native English, French,
German, and Indonesian speakers is due to the switching of creole
speakers and some estimates of non-native official language speakers
(especially in Africa) from native to 2nd language totals.
1987 1987 gismu-remaking 1994
World Almanac native 2nd n+1/2s norm. weight weight
Chinese 788 752.1 319.1 911.7 .360 .348
English 420 366.5 322.4 527.7 .208 .163
Hindi 382 294 200.3 394.2 .156 .194
Spanish 296 264.7 58.2 293.8 .116 .123
Russian 285 164.3 109.7 219.12 .087 .088
Arabic 177 155.9 57.7 184.8 .073 .084
Bengali 171 87 80.8 127.4
Portuguese 164 110.4 45.5 133.2
Malay/Indon. 128 121.1 39.5 140.9
Japanese 122 120.1 0.6 120.4
German 118 105.4 18.3 114.6
French 114 81.1 75.5 118.9
Following is the 6 columns of 1994 raw data, by language, by country
Chinese
Australia .161
Brunei .045
Cambodia .029
Canada .296
China 775.000 309.58 4.691 1179.467-775.0
*.777 - 309.58
Costa Rica .006
Fr. Polynesia .012
Guam .002
HongKong .066 1.004
Japan .120
N.Korea .040
S.Korea .040
Macau .004
Malaysia 1.750
Mauru .0009
N.Mariana I. .0011
Panama .008
Phillipines .160
Singapore 2.232 .408 2.876-2.232 * 2.232/2.8
44 *.807
Taiwan 2.760 16.858 20.926-
2.76 *.928
Thailand 7.010
USA 1.450
Vietnam .990
792.183 310.584 21.957
958.454
Hindi
Bangladesh .210
Fiji .352
India 394.090 56.6 170.952 896.567
-394.09 *450.69/479.69 *.482 -56.6
Jamaica .050
Mauritius .149
Nepal .730
Oman .040
Pakistan 9.730 30.267 127.962-9.73 *
.256
Qatar .024 (.320*9.73/127.962) .006 .320*9.73/127.962 * .25
6 (derived from
Pakistan stats)
USA .370
405.745 56.6 201.225
534.658
English
Amer. Samoa .002 .050
Andorra .001
Antigua .063 .0027 .066-.063 *.90
Aruba .006
Australia 15.311 2.406 17.729-15.311 *.995
Bahamas .210 .532 .266-.210 *.95
Bangladesh 3.000
Barbados .026 .234 creole
Belize .103 .047 creole .502 .204-.150 *.93
Bermuda .056 .0047 .0608-.056 *.969
Botswana 1.035 1.406 *.736
Brunei .107
Canada 17.790 7.087 28.149-17.790 *
17.790/24.86 *.956
Colombia .05 creole
Costa Rica .064 creole
Denmark .018
Dominica .022 .049 .0739-.022 *.944
Fiji .150 .513 .762*.87 -.150
France .080
French Guiana .002 creole
Gambia .281 1.033 *.272
Ghana 9.444 15.636 * .604
Gibraltar .026 .0031 .0291-.026 * .99
Grenada .091
Guam .053 .089
Guernsey .064
Guyana .590 creole .138 .755 *.964 -.590
Honduras .016 creole
Hong Kong .131 1.739
India .310 28.690 .0 896.567-.310 *
29/439 *.482 -28.690
Ireland 3.340 .167 3.516-3.340 *3.340/3.51
6 *1.000
Isle of Man .072
Israel .065
Jamaica .660 1.73 creole .081 2.472-2.
39 *.984
Japan .070
Jersey .086
Kenya 2.2
Kiribati .069 .0769 *.90
Lesotho 1.407 1.903 *.736
Liberia 2.6 creole
Macau .002
Malawi .530 3.872 10.581 *.416 -.53
Malaysia .310 5.490 .597 19.077-.310 *5.
8/14.02 *.784 -5.49
Malta .008 .022 .362-.008
*.008/.354 *.96
Marshall Isl .048 .0521 *.912
Mauritius .002
Micronesia .0005
Monaco .002
Namibia .130
Nauru .0008
Nether Antilles .015
New Zealand 3.288 .240 3.520-3.288 *3.288/3.40
1 *1.0
Nicaragua .042 creole
Nigeria 32.0 creole 6.817 91.549 *.424 -
32.0
N Mariana Isl .0022 .0389 .396 .454-.0022 *.963 -.0389
Norway .023
Pakistan 15.0
Panama .345 creole
Papua New Guinea 2.6 creole .0 3.918 *.52 -2.6
Phillipines 34.0 5.597 64.954 *.887 *3
4.0/49.47 -34.0
Puerto Rico 1.711
Qatar .038 .320*15./127.96 (based
on Pakistan)
St Kitts Nevis .042
St Lucia .136
St. Vincent .108 .001 .109-.108 *1.0
Seychelles .002
Sierra Leone .930 4.491 * .207
Singapore 1.076 .587 2.876 *1.076/1.6
88 *.907 -1.076
Solomon Isl .189 .349 *.541
South Africa 3.540 9.216 40.786 -3.54 *3.54/10.9
3 *.764
Spain .100
Sri Lanka 1.820
Sweden .031
Tanzania .800
Trinidad 1.249 creole
Tunisia .270
Uganda .180
Unit Kingdom 56.380 1.700 58.08-56.38 * 1.0
USA 222.55 28.280 5.800 258.233-222.62 *.955 -2
8.21
Vanuatu .130
Virgin Islands .085 .018 .105-.085
*.90
West Samoa .086 .003 .163-.086 *.086/.163 *.
077
Zambia .700 5.491 8.504 *.728 -.7
Zimbabwe .230 7.892 10.687 *.76 -.2
3
329.906 163.662 73.214
448.343
Spanish
Andorra .029
Argentina 32.150 .359 33.527-32.15 *.953
Aruba .005
Australia .087
Belgium .050
Belize .064 .056
Bolivia 6.922 .567 7.715-6.922 * 6.922/7.5
07 *.775
Canada .093
Chile 12.410 1.057 13.542-12.41 *
.934
Colombia 34.760
Costa Rica 3.119 .074 3.199-3.119 *.928
Cuba 10.892
Dominican Rep 7.470 .137 7.634-7.47 *.833
Ecuador 10.220 .687 10.985-10.22 * .898
El Salvador 5.517
Equat. Guinea .237 .377 *.628
France .022
Germany .140
Gibraltar .0291
Guatemala 6.290 2.064 9.713-6.290 *.603
Honduras 5.009 .102 5.148-5.009 *.731
Israel .046
Luxembourg .002
Mexico 82.860 6.194 89.955-82.86 *.
873
Nicaragua 4.041 .166 4.265-4.041 *.74
Panama 1.994 .501 2.563-1
.994 *.881
Paraguay 2.552 1.056 4.613-2.542 * 2.542/4.4
93 *.901
Peru 20.670 1.850 22.916-20.67 *
20.67/22.41 *.893
Puerto Rico 3.547 .058 3.612-3.547 *.891
Spain 31.570 6.70 .470 39.141-31.57 *.
947 -6.7
Sweden .053
USA 19.430
Uraguay 3.040 .104 3.149-3.04 *.95
Venezuela 20.810
Virgin Islands .014
325.856 7.069 15.723
337.252
Russian
Australia .027
Azerbaijan .560 5.787 7.398 *.858 -.56
Belarus 10.240 .087 10.353-10.24 *.77
Bulgaria .020
Canada .259
Czech .011
Estonia .530 1.001 1.536*.997 -.53
Georgia .490 4.327 5.493 *.877 -.49
0
Israel .094
Kazakhstan 8.480 5.922 17.186 *.838 -8.48
Kyrgyzstan 1.160 3.153 4.526 *.953 -1.16
Latvia 1.090 .380 1.500 *
.98 -1.090
Lithuania .440 1.407 3.310 *.558 -.440
Moldova 1.380 1.913 4.362 *.755 -1.380
Poland .420
Romania .105
Russia 130.470 13.498 148.0-1
30.47 *.77
Slovakia .016
Tajikistan .550 4.225 5.705 *.837 -.550
Turkmenistan .470 3.240 4.294 *.864 -.470
Ukraine 51.200 .908 52.344-51.2 *.794
USA .380
Uzbekistan 2.380 16.608 21.901*.867 -2.
38
210.772 62.456
242.000
Arabic
Algeria 22.320 2.703 27.029-22.32 *.574
1.072 26.89 religion
-25.023 *.574
Australia .131
Bahrain .350 .105 .486-.35 *.774
.41 religion
Belgium .160
Cameroon .130
Canada .045
Chad 1.600 .898 6.118-1.6 *1.6/
2.4 *.298 .057 2.69 religion-2.498
*.298
Comoros .009 .020 .516-.009 *.009/
.106 *.463 .225 .514 religion-.029
*.463
Djibouti .030 .068 .565-.030 *.030/
.080 *.337 .180 .531 religion-.098
*.337
Egypt 56.420 .333 57.109-56.42 *.
484 .0 51.4 religion
Eritrea
.340 1.7 religion *.20 literate
France 1.460
Gaza .712
Gibraltar .002
Iran 1.310
38.096 59.74 religion-1.31 *.652 literate
Iraq 14.990 2.654 19.435-14.990 *
.597 .726 18.86 religion-17.644 *.597
Israel 1.002 .861 5.451-1
.002 *1.002/4.751 *.918
Jordan 3.730 .024 3.76-3.
73 *.801
Kenya .070
Kuwait 1.460 .037 1.51-1.
46 *.730
Lebanon 2.710 .159 2.909-2.71 *.801
Libya 4.390 .121 4.58-4.39 * .63
8 .0 4.44 religion
Mauritania 1.770 .136 2.171-1.77 *.34
.086 2.16 religion-1.906 *.34
Morocco 17.220 4.591 26.494-17.22 *.495
2.133 26.12 religion-21.811
*.495
Netherlands .144
Niger .020
Nigeria .300
Oman 1.250 .184 1.698-1.25 *.41
.011 1.46 religion-1.434 *.41
Qatar .220 .241 .539-.220
*.757 .029 .5 religion-.461 *.757
Saudi Arabia 16.550 .542 17.419-16.550 *.624
.073 17.21 religion-17.092
*.624
Somalia
4.401 8.031 religion * .548 literate
Sudan 12.340 3.431 25.0-12.34
*.271 .672 18.25 religion-15.771 *.271
Syria 11.900 1.197 13.398-11.9 *.7
99 11.92 religion
Tunisia 8.490 .026 8.53-8.49 *.653
Turkey .820
UAE .840 .837 1.986-.840*.730
.170 1.910 religion-1.677 *.730
USA .040
West Bank 1.050
Western Sahara .213
Yemen 12.270 .096 12.519-12.27 *.
385 .052 12.5 religion-12.366
*.385
198.468 19.264
48.323
232.262
Bengali
Bangladesh 112.460 .904 115.0575-112.46 *.348
India 67.770
Nepal .020
USA .040
180.290 .904
180.742
Portuguese
Andorra .007
Angola 3.800 .752 10.916 * .417 -
3.8
Brazil 152.500 3.242 156.493-152.5 *
.812
Canada .172
Cape Verde .350
France .660
Germany .090
Guinea-Bissau .107 .354 creole .211 1.038-.461 * .365
Luxembourg .032
Macau .010
Mozambique .190 4.952 15.243-.190 * .329
Paraguay .146
Portugal 9.730 .081 9.823-9.73 *.868
Sao Tome .125
Spain 1.57(Galician)
USA .480
164.124 6.199 9.238
171.843
Japanese
Brazil .750
Guam .003
Hong Kong .012
Japan 123.360
N.Marianas I. .0009
USA .480
124.6059
124.6059
French
Algeria 12.000
Andorra .005
Australia .064
Bahamas .050 creole
Belgium 3.290 2.386 10.072-3.290 * 3.29/9.3
5 *1.0
Benin .790 .401 5.091 *.234 -.7
90
Bulgaria .240
Burkina Faso .580 1.200 9.78 *.182 -.580
Burundi .530 .886 5.665 *.25 -.530
Cameroon 1.970 1.581 13.103 *.271 -1.97
Canada 7.060 5.726 28.149-7.06 *7.
06/24.86 *.956
Cent Afr Rep .340 .013 2.998 *.377 *.34/1.0
9 -.34
Chad .800 .0 4.029 *.298 *.8/2.4 -.8
Comoros .087 .030 .154 .516-.087 * .117/.12
6 *.463 -.03
Congo .810 .761 2.775 *.566 - .
810
Ivory Coast 4.700 2.541 13.459 *.538 -4
.7
Djibouti .050 .069 .565 *.337 * .05
/.08 -.05
Dominica .071 creole
Dominican Rep .150 creole
Egypt .260
France 54.03 3.616 57.69 -54.03 *.
988
French Guiana .116 creole .010 .128-.116 *.82
Fr Polynesia .171 .039 .212-.171 *.95
Gabon .430 .347 1.28 *.607 -.43
Guadaloupe .398 .019 .419-.398 *.901
Guernsey .064
Guinea .636
Haiti .890 6.010 creole
Israel .045
Italy .300
Jersey .006 .080 .086 -.006 *1.0
Lebanon .700
Luxembourg .013
Madagascar 1.400 .0 13.255 *
1.4/14.520 *.802 -1.4
Mali .700 1.843 7.946 *.320 -.7
Martinique .365 .011 .377-.365 *.925
Mauritania .120
Mauritius .040 .612 creole
Mayotte .044 .0 .104 *.318 -.044
Monaco .012 .018 .030-.012 *1.0
New Caledonia .060 .069 .180-.060 *.579
Niger 1.300 .0 8.516 *.108 -1.3
Reunion .580 creole .042 .634-.58 *.782
Rwanda .520
St. Lucia .109 creole
Senegal .390
Seychelles .001 .066 creole .004 .0713-.067 *.842
Switzerland 1.345 1.194 6.966-1.345 *1.345/6.33
*1.0
Togo .650
Tunisia 2.510
USA 1.910 .210 creole
Vanuatu .050 creole
Virgin Islands .003
Zaire 3.300 .0 42.473 *.718 -29.0 (o
ther lingua franca) -3.3
72.589 41.384 23.010
104.786
Malay-Indonesian
Brunei .218 .049 .275-.218 *.851
Indonesia 22.790 128.371 188.216-22.79 *
.776
Malaysia 11.140 4.092 19.077-11.14 *11.14/16.
94 *.784
Singapore .408 .541 2.876-.408 *.408/1
.688 *.907
Thailand 2.100
USA .04 creole
36.656 .04 133.053
103.203
German
Australia .135
Austria 7.470 .468 7.938-7.47* 1.000
Belgium .090 .096 10.072-.09 * .09
/9.350 * 1.000
Belize .003
Brazil .860
Canada .487
Czech .048
Denmark .009
France 1.31
Germany 75.830 5.357 81.187-75.83 * 1.000
Hungary .160
Israel .036 .117 (Yiddish)
Italy .300
Kazakhstan .540
Liechtenstein .0269 .0032 .0301-.0269 *1.
0
Luxembourg .009 .289 (Lux'ish) .094 .392-.009 *1.0 -.289
Paraguay .040
Poland .500
Romania .119
Russia .350
Slovakia .006
Sweden .045
Switzerland 4.452 1.607 6.966-4.452 * 4.452/6.9
66 *1.0
91.616 1.716 7.625
96.287
==================
----
lojbab Note new address: lojbab@access.digex.net
Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273