Daily Almanac for
Nov 14, 2009
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The Top Ten  November 12 - 19    

World's Most Widely Spoken Languages

RankLanguageApprox. number of Speakers
(in millions)
1. Chinese, Mandarin 1,075.0
2. English 514.0
3. Hindustani1 496.0
4. Spanish 425.0
5. Russian 275.0
6. Arabic 256.0
7. Bengali 215.0
8. Portuguese 194.0
9. Malay-Indonesian 176.0
10. French 129.0
1. Encompasses multiple dialects, including Hindi and Urdu.
Source: Ethnologue, 13th Edition, and other sources.

See Also:
The Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World



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