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Wikipedia / Languages of Europe

There are over 250 languages indigenous to Europe, and most belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. The three largest phyla of the Indo-European language family in Europe are Romance, Germanic, and Slavic; they have more than 200 million speakers each, and together account for close to 90% of Europeans.

Smaller phyla of Indo-European found in Europe include Hellenic (Greek, 13 million), Baltic ( 4.5 million), Albanian ( 7.5 million), Celtic ( 4 million), and Armenian ( 4 million). Indo-Aryan, though a large subfamily of Indo-European, has a relatively small number of languages in Europe, and a small number of speakers (Romani, 1.5 million). However, a number of Indo-Aryan languages not native to Europe are spoken in Europe today.

Of the approximately 45 million Europeans speaking non-Indo-European languages, most speak languages within either the Uralic or Turkic families. Still smaller groups — such as Basque (language isolate), Semitic languages (Maltese, 0.5 million), and various languages of the Caucasus — account for less than 1% of the European population among them. Immigration has added sizeable communities of speakers of African and Asian languages, amounting to about 4% of the population, with Arabic being the most widely spoken of them.

Five languages have more than 50 million native speakers in Europe: Russian, German, French, Italian, and English. Russian is the most-spoken native language in Europe, and English has the largest number of speakers in total, including some 200 million speakers of English as a second or foreign language. (See English language in Europe.)

Indo-European languages

The Indo-European language family is descended from Proto-Indo-European, which is believed to have been spoken thousands of years ago. Early speakers of Indo-European daughter languages most likely expanded into Europe with the incipient Bronze Age, around 4,000 years ago (Bell-Beaker culture).

Germanic

The Germanic languages make up the predominant language family in Western, Northern and Central Europe. It is estimated that over 500 million Europeans are speakers of Germanic languages, the largest groups being German ( 95 million), English ( 400 million), Dutch ( 24 million), Swedish ( 10 million), Danish ( 6 million), Norwegian ( 5 million) and Limburgish (c. 1.3 million).

There are two extant major sub-divisions: West Germanic and North Germanic. A third group, East Germanic, is now extinct; the only known surviving East Germanic texts are written in the Gothic language. West Germanic is divided into Anglo-Frisian (including English), Low German, Low Franconian (including Dutch) and High German (including Standard German).

Anglo-Frisian

The Anglo-Frisian language family is now mostly represented by English (Anglic), descended from the Old English language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons:

The Frisian languages are spoken by about 400,000 () Frisians, who live on the southern coast of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. These languages include West Frisian, East Frisian (of which the only surviving dialect is Saterlandic) and North Frisian.

Dutch

Dutch is spoken throughout the Netherlands, the northern half of Belgium, as well as the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France. The traditional dialects of the Lower Rhine region of Germany are linguistically more closely related to Dutch than to modern German. In Belgian and French contexts, Dutch is sometimes referred to as Flemish. Dutch dialects are numerous and varied.

German

German is spoken throughout Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, much of Switzerland, northern Italy (South Tyrol), Luxembourg, the East Cantons of Belgium and the Alsace and Lorraine regions of France.

There are several groups of German dialects:

High German includes several dialect families:

Low German

Low German is spoken in various regions throughout Northern Germany and the northern and eastern parts of the Netherlands. It may be separated into West Low German and East Low German.

North Germanic (Scandinavian)

The North Germanic languages are spoken in Nordic countries and include Swedish (Sweden and parts of Finland), Danish (Denmark), Norwegian (Norway), Icelandic (Iceland), Faroese (Faroe Islands), and Elfdalian (in a small part of central Sweden).

English has a long history of contact with Scandinavian languages, given the immigration of Scandinavians early in the history of Britain, and shares various features with the Scandinavian languages. Even so, especially Dutch and Swedish, but also Danish and Norwegian, have strong vocabulary connections to the German language.

Romance

Roughly 215 million Europeans (primarily in Southern and Western Europe) are native speakers of Romance languages, the largest groups including:

French ( 72 million), Italian ( 65 million), Spanish ( 40 million), Romanian ( 24 million), Portuguese ( 10 million), Catalan ( 7 million), Neapolitan ( 6 million), Sicilian ( 5 million), Venetian ( 4 million), Galician ( 2 million), Sardinian ( 1 million), Occitan ( 500,000), besides numerous smaller communities.

The Romance languages evolved from varieties of Vulgar Latin spoken in the various parts of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. Latin was itself part of the (otherwise extinct) Italic branch of Indo-European. Romance languages are divided phylogenetically into Italo-Western, Eastern Romance (including Romanian) and Sardinian. The Romance-speaking area of Europe is occasionally referred to as Latin Europe.

Italo-Western can be further broken down into the Italo-Dalmatian languages (sometimes grouped with Eastern Romance), including the Tuscan-derived Italian and numerous local Romance languages in Italy as well as Dalmatian, and the Western Romance languages. The Western Romance languages in turn separate into the Gallo-Romance languages, including Langues d'oïl such as French, the Francoprovencalic languages Arpitan and Faetar, the Rhaeto-Romance languages, and the Gallo-Italic languages; the Occitano-Romance languages, grouped with either Gallo-Romance or East Iberian, including Occitanic languages such as Occitan and Gardiol, and Catalan; Aragonese, grouped in with either Occitano-Romance or West Iberian, and finally the West Iberian languages, including the Astur-Leonese languages, the Galician-Portuguese languages, and the Castilian languages.

Slavic

Slavic languages are spoken in large areas of Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. An estimated 315 million people speak a Slavic language, the largest groups being Russian ( 110 million in European Russia and adjacent parts of Eastern Europe, Russian forming the largest linguistic community in Europe), Polish ( 40 million), Ukrainian ( 33 million), Serbo-Croatian ( 18 million), Czech ( 11 million), Bulgarian ( 8 million), Slovak ( 5 million), Belarusian (c. 3.7 million), Slovene ( 2.3 million) and Macedonian ( 1.6 million).

Phylogenetically, Slavic is divided into three subgroups:

Others

Greek ( 13 million) is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and there are Greek-speaking enclaves in Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania, Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Turkey, and in Greek communities around the world. Dialects of modern Greek that originate from Attic Greek (through Koine and then Medieval Greek) are Cappadocian, Pontic, Cretan, Cypriot, Katharevousa, and Yevanic.

The Baltic languages are spoken in Lithuania (Lithuanian ( 3 million), Samogitian) and Latvia (Latvian ( 1.5 million), Latgalian). Samogitian and Latgalian used to be considered dialects of Lithuanian and Latvian respectively.

There are six living Celtic languages, spoken in areas of northwestern Europe dubbed the "Celtic nations". All six are members of the Insular Celtic family, which in turn is divided into:

Uralic languages

Finnic languages include Finnish ( 5 million) and Estonian ( 1 million), as well as smaller languages such as Kven ( 8,000). Other languages of the Finno-Permic branch of the family include e.g. Mari (c. 400,000), and the Sami languages ( 30,000).

The Ugric branch of the language family is represented in Europe by the Hungarian language ( 13 million), historically introduced with the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin of the 9th century. The Samoyedic Nenets language is spoken in Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia, located in the far northeastern corner of Europe (as delimited by the Ural Mountains).

Semitic languages

Turkic languages

Other languages

Sign languages

Several dozen manual languages exist across Europe, with the most widespread sign language family being the Francosign languages, with languages found in countries from Iberia to the Balkans and the Baltics. Accurate historical information of sign and tactile languages is difficult to come by, with folk histories noting the existence signing communities across Europe hundreds of years ago. British Sign Language (BSL) and French Sign Language (LSF) are probably the oldest confirmed, continuously used sign languages. Alongside German Sign Language (DGS) according to Ethnologue, these three have the most numbers of signers.

Notably, few European sign languages have overt connections with the local majority/oral languages, aside from standard language contact and borrowing, meaning grammatically the sign languages and the oral languages of Europe are quite distinct from one another. Due to (visual/aural) modality differences, most sign languages are named for the larger ethnic nation in which they are spoken, plus the words "sign language", rendering what is spoken across much of France, Wallonia and Romandy as French Sign Language or LSF for: langue des signes française.

Recognition of non-oral languages varies widely from region to region. Some countries afford legal recognition, even to official on a state level, whereas others continue to be actively suppressed.

Though "there is a widespread belief—among both Deaf people and sign language linguists—that there are sign language families," the actual relationship between sign languages is difficult to ascertain. Concepts and methods used in historical linguistics to describe language families for written and spoken languages are not easily mapped onto signed languages. Some of the current understandings of sign language relationships, however, provide some reasonable estimates about potential sign language families:

History of standardization

Language and identity, standardization processes

In the Middle Ages the two most important defining elements of Europe were Christianitas and Latinitas.

The earliest dictionaries were glossaries: more or less structured lists of lexical pairs (in alphabetical order or according to conceptual fields). The Latin-German (Latin-Bavarian) Abrogans was among the first. A new wave of lexicography can be seen from the late 15th century onwards (after the introduction of the printing press, with the growing interest in standardization of languages).

The concept of the nation state began to emerge in the early modern period. Nations adopted particular dialects as their national language. This, together with improved communications, led to official efforts to standardize the national language, and a number of language academies were established: 1582 Accademia della Crusca in Florence, 1617 Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft in Weimar, 1635 Académie française in Paris, 1713 Real Academia Española in Madrid. Language became increasingly linked to nation as opposed to culture, and was also used to promote religious and ethnic identity: e.g. different Bible translations in the same language for Catholics and Protestants.

The first languages whose standardisation was promoted included Italian (questione della lingua: Modern Tuscan/Florentine vs. Old Tuscan/Florentine vs. Venetian → Modern Florentine + archaic Tuscan + Upper Italian), French (the standard is based on Parisian), English (the standard is based on the London dialect) and (High) German (based on the dialects of the chancellery of Meissen in Saxony, Middle German, and the chancellery of Prague in Bohemia ("Common German")). But several other nations also began to develop a standard variety in the 16th century.

Lingua franca

Europe has had a number of languages that were considered linguae francae over some ranges for some periods according to some historians. Typically in the rise of a national language the new language becomes a lingua franca to peoples in the range of the future nation until the consolidation and unification phases. If the nation becomes internationally influential, its language may become a lingua franca among nations that speak their own national languages. Europe has had no lingua franca ranging over its entire territory spoken by all or most of its populations during any historical period. Some linguae francae of past and present over some of its regions for some of its populations are:

Linguistic minorities

Historical attitudes towards linguistic diversity are illustrated by two French laws: the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts (1539), which said that every document in France should be written in French (neither in Latin nor in Occitan) and the Loi Toubon (1994), which aimed to eliminate anglicisms from official documents. States and populations within a state have often resorted to war to settle their differences. There have been attempts to prevent such hostilities: two such initiatives were promoted by the Council of Europe, founded in 1949, which affirms the right of minority language speakers to use their language fully and freely. The Council of Europe is committed to protecting linguistic diversity. Currently all European countries except France, Andorra and Turkey have signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, while Greece, Iceland and Luxembourg have signed it, but have not ratified it; this framework entered into force in 1998. Another European treaty, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, was adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe: it entered into force in 1998, and while it is legally binding for 24 countries, France, Iceland, Italy, North Macedonia, Moldova and Russia have chosen to sign without ratifying the convention.

Scripts

The main scripts used in Europe today are the Latin and Cyrillic.

The Greek alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, and Latin was derived from the Greek via the Old Italic alphabet. In the Early Middle Ages, Ogham was used in Ireland and runes (derived from Old Italic script) in Scandinavia. Both were replaced in general use by the Latin alphabet by the Late Middle Ages. The Cyrillic script was derived from the Greek with the first texts appearing around 940AD.

Around 1900 there were mainly two typeface variants of the Latin alphabet used in Europe: Antiqua and Fraktur. Fraktur was used most for German, Estonian, Latvian, Norwegian and Danish whereas Antiqua was used for Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Swedish and Finnish. The Fraktur variant was banned by Hitler in 1941, having been described as "Schwabacher Jewish letters". Other scripts have historically been in use in Europe, including Phoenician, from which modern Latin letters descend, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on Egyptian artefacts traded during Antiquity, various runic systems used in Northern Europe preceding Christianisation, and Arabic during the era of the Ottoman Empire.

Hungarian rovás was used by the Hungarian people in the early Middle Ages, but it was gradually replaced with the Latin-based Hungarian alphabet when Hungary became a kingdom, though it was revived in the 20th century and has certain marginal, but growing area of usage since then.

European Union

The European Union (as of 2021) had 27 member states accounting for a population of 447 million, or about 60% of the population of Europe.

The European Union has designated by agreement with the member states 24 languages as "official and working": Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish. This designation provides member states with two "entitlements": the member state may communicate with the EU in any of the designated languages, and view "EU regulations and other legislative documents" in that language.

The European Union and the Council of Europe have been collaborating in education of member populations in languages for "the promotion of plurilingualism" among EU member states. The joint document, "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)", is an educational standard defining "the competencies necessary for communication" and related knowledge for the benefit of educators in setting up educational programs. In a 2005 independent survey requested by the EU's Directorate-General for Education and Culture regarding the extent to which major European languages were spoken in member states. The results were published in a 2006 document, "Europeans and Their Languages", or "Eurobarometer243". In this study, statistically relevant samples of the population in each country were asked to fill out a survey form concerning the languages that they spoke with sufficient competency "to be able to have a conversation".

List of languages

The following is a table of European languages. The number of speakers as a first or second language (L1 and L2 speakers) listed are speakers in Europe only; see list of languages by number of native speakers and list of languages by total number of speakers for global estimates on numbers of speakers.

The list is intended to include any language variety with an ISO 639 code. However, it omits sign languages. Because the ISO-639-2 and ISO-639-3 codes have different definitions, this means that some communities of speakers may be listed more than once. For instance, speakers of Bavarian are listed both under "Bavarian" (ISO-639-3 code bar) as well as under "German" (ISO-639-2 code de).

Name

ISO-639

Classification

Speakers in Europe

Official status

Native

Total

National

Regional

Abaza

abq

Northwest Caucasian, Abazgi

49,800

Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)

Adyghe

ady

Northwest Caucasian, Circassian

117,500

Adygea (Russia)

Aghul

agx

Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic

29,300

Dagestan (Russia)

Akhvakh

akv

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

210

Albanian (Shqip)ArbëreshArvanitika

sq

Indo-European

Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia

Italy, Arbëresh dialect: Sicily, Calabria, Apulia, Molise, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Campania Montenegro (Ulcinj, Tuzi)

Andi

ani

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

5,800

Aragonese

an

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

25,000

55,000

Northern Aragon (Spain)

Archi

acq

Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic

970

Aromanian

rup

Indo-European, Romance, Eastern

114,000

North Macedonia (Kruševo)

Asturian (Astur-Leonese)

ast

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

351,791

641,502

Asturias

Avar

av

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

760,000

Dagestan (Russia)

Azerbaijani

az

Turkic, Oghuz

500,000

Azerbaijan

Dagestan (Russia)

Bagvalal

kva

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

1,500

Bashkir

ba

Turkic, Kipchak

1,221,000

Bashkortostan (Russia)

Basque

eu

Basque

750,000

Basque Country: Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre (Spain), French Basque Country (France)

Bavarian

bar

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Bavarian

14,000,000

Austria (as German)

South Tyrol

Belarusian

be

Indo-European, Slavic, East

3,300,000

Belarus

Bezhta

kap

Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic

6,800

Bosnian

bs

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian

2,500,000

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kosovo, Montenegro

Botlikh

bph

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

210

Breton

br

Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic

206,000

None, de facto status in Brittany (France)

Bulgarian

bg

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern

7,800,000

Bulgaria

Mount Athos (Greece)

Catalan

ca

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Occitano-Romance

4,000,000

10,000,000

Andorra

Balearic Islands (Spain), Catalonia (Spain), Valencian Community (Spain), easternmost Aragon (Spain), Pyrénées-Orientales (France), Alghero (Italy)

Chamalal

cji

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

500

Chechen

ce

Northeast Caucasian, Nakh

1,400,000

Chechnya & Dagestan (Russia)

Chuvash

cv

Turkic, Oghur

1,100,000

Chuvashia (Russia)

Cimbrian

cim

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Bavarian

400

Cornish

kw

Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic

563

Cornwall (United Kingdom)

Corsican

co

Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian

30,000

125,000

Corsica (France), Sardinia (Italy)

Crimean Tatar

crh

Turkic, Kipchak

480,000

Crimea (Ukraine)

Croatian

hr

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian

5,600,000

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia

Burgenland (Austria), Vojvodina (Serbia)

Czech

cs

Indo-European, Slavic, West, Czech–Slovak

10,600,000

Czech Republic

Danish

da

Indo-European, Germanic, North

5,500,000

Denmark

Faroe Islands (Denmark), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)

Dargwa

dar

Northeast Caucasian, Dargin

490,000

Dagestan (Russia)

Dutch

nl

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian

22,000,000

24,000,000

Belgium, Netherlands

Elfdalian

ovd

Indo-European, Germanic, North

2000

Emilian

egl

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic

English

en

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian, Anglic

63,000,000

260,000,000

Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom

Erzya

myv

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Mordvinic

120,000

Mordovia (Russia)

Estonian

et

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

1,165,400

Estonia

Extremaduran

ext

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

200,000

Fala

fax

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

11,000

Faroese

fo

Indo-European, Germanic, North

66,150

Faroe Islands (Denmark)

Finnish

fi

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

5,400,000

Finland

Sweden, Norway, Republic of Karelia (Russia)

Franco-Provençal (Arpitan)

frp

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance

140,000

Aosta Valley (Italy)

French

fr

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl

81,000,000

210,000,000

Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, Jersey

Aosta Valley (Italy)

Frisian

fryfrr stq

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian

470,000

Friesland (Netherlands), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)

Friulan

fur

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Rhaeto-Romance

600,000

Friuli (Italy)

Gagauz

gag

Turkic, Oghuz

140,000

Gagauzia (Moldova)

Galician

gl

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

2,400,000

Galicia (Spain), Eo-Navia (Asturias), Bierzo (Province of León) and Western Sanabria (Province of Zamora)

German

de

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German

97,000,000

170,000,000

Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland

South Tyrol, Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy)

Godoberi

gin

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

130

Greek

el

Indo-European, Hellenic

13,500,000

Cyprus, Greece

Albania (Finiq, Dropull)

Hinuq

gin

Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic

350

Hungarian

hu

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric

13,000,000

Hungary

Burgenland (Austria), Vojvodina (Serbia), Romania, Slovakia, Subcarpathia (Ukraine), Prekmurje, (Slovenia)

Hunzib

bph

Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic

1,400

Icelandic

is

Indo-European, Germanic, North

330,000

Iceland

Ingrian

izh

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

120

Ingush

inh

Northeast Caucasian, Nakh

300,000

Ingushetia (Russia)

Irish

ga

Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic

240,000

2,000,000

Ireland

Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

Istriot

ist

Indo-European, Romance

900

Istro-Romanian

ruo

Indo-European, Romance, Eastern

1,100

Italian

it

Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian

65,000,000

82,000,000

Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City

Istria County (Croatia), Slovenian Istria (Slovenia)

Judeo-Italian

itk

Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian

250

Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)

lad

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

320,000

few

Bosnia and Herzegovina, France

Kabardian

kbd

Northwest Caucasian, Circassian

530,000

Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)

Kaitag

xdq

Northeast Caucasian, Dargin

30,000

Kalmyk

xal

Mongolic

80,500

Kalmykia (Russia)

Karata

kpt

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

260

Karelian

krl

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

36,000

Republic of Karelia (Russia)

Karachay-Balkar

krc

Turkic, Kipchak

300,000

Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)

Kashubian

csb

Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic

50,000

Poland

Kazakh

kk

Turkic, Kipchak

1,000,000

Kazakhstan

Astrakhan Oblast (Russia)

Khwarshi

khv

Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic

1,700

Komi

kv

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Permic

220,000

Komi Republic (Russia)

Kubachi

ugh

Northeast Caucasian, Dargin

7,000

Kumyk

kum

Turkic, Kipchak

450,000

Dagestan (Russia)

Kven

fkv

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

2,000-10,000

Norway

Lak

lbe

Northeast Caucasian, Lak

152,050

Dagestan (Russia)

Latin

la

Indo-European, Italic, Latino-Faliscan

extinct

few

Vatican City

Latvian

lv

Indo-European, Baltic

1,750,000

Latvia

Lezgin

lez

Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic

397,000

Dagestan (Russia)

Ligurian

lij

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic

500,000

Monaco (Monégasque dialect is the "national language")

Liguria (Italy), Carloforte and Calasetta (Sardinia, Italy)

Limburgish

lilim

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian

1,300,000 (2001)

Limburg (Belgium), Limburg (Netherlands)

Lithuanian

lt

Indo-European, Baltic

3,000,000

Lithuania

Livonian

liv

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

1

210

Latvia

Lombard

lmo

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic

3,600,000

Lombardy (Italy)

Low German (Low Saxon)

ndswep

Indo-European, Germanic, West

1,000,000

2,600,000

Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)

Ludic

lud

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

300

Luxembourgish

lb

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German

336,000

386,000

Luxembourg

Wallonia (Belgium)

Macedonian

mk

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern

1,400,000

North Macedonia

Mainfränkisch

vmf

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper

4,900,000

Maltese

mt

Semitic, Arabic

520,000

Malta

Manx

gv

Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic

230

2,300

Isle of Man

Mari

chmmhrmrj

Uralic, Finno-Ugric

500,000

Mari El (Russia)

Meänkieli

fit

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

40,000

55,000

Sweden

Megleno-Romanian

ruq

Indo-European, Romance, Eastern

3,000

Minderico

drc

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

500

Mirandese

mwl

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

15,000

Miranda do Douro (Portugal)

Moksha

mdf

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Mordvinic

2,000

Mordovia (Russia)

Montenegrin

cnr

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian

240,700

Montenegro

Mali Iđoš (Serbia)

Neapolitan

nap

Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian

5,700,000

Campania (Italy)

Nenets

yrk

Uralic, Samoyedic

4,000

Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Russia)

Nogai

nog

Turkic, Kipchak

87,000

Dagestan (Russia)

Norman

nrf

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl

50,000

Guernsey (United Kingdom), Jersey (United Kingdom)

Norwegian

no

Indo-European, Germanic, North

5,200,000

Norway

Occitan

oc

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Occitano-Romance

500,000

Catalonia (Spain)

Ossetian

os

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern

450,000

North Ossetia-Alania (Russia), South Ossetia

Palatinate German

pfl

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central

1,000,000

Picard

pcd

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl

200,000

Wallonia (Belgium)

Piedmontese

pms

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic

1,600,000

Piedmont (Italy)

Polish

pl

Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic

38,500,000

Poland

Portuguese

pt

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

10,000,000

Portugal

Rhaeto-Romance

furlldroh

Indo-European, Romance, Western

370,000

Switzerland

Veneto Belluno, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, South Tyrol, & Trentino (Italy)

Ripuarian (Platt)

ksh

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central

900,000

Romagnol

rgn

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic

Romani

rom

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Western

1,500,000

Kosovo

Romanian

ro

Indo-European, Romance, Eastern

24,000,000

28,000,000

Moldova, Romania

Mount Athos (Greece), Vojvodina (Serbia)

Russian

ru

Indo-European, Slavic, East

106,000,000

160,000,000

Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia

Mount Athos (Greece), Gagauzia (Moldova), Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova), Ukraine

Rusyn

rue

Indo-European, Slavic, East

70,000

Rutul

rut

Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic

36,400

Dagestan (Russia)

Sami

se

Uralic, Finno-Ugric

23,000

Norway

Sweden, Finland

Sardinian

sc

Indo-European, Romance

1,350,000

Sardinia (Italy)

Scots

sco

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian, Anglic

110,000

Scotland (United Kingdom), County Donegal (Republic of Ireland), Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

Scottish Gaelic

gd

Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic

57,000

Scotland (United Kingdom)

Serbian

sr

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian

9,000,000

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia

Croatia, Mount Athos (Greece), North Macedonia, Montenegro

Sicilian

scn

Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian

4,700,000

Sicily (Italy)

Silesian

szl

Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic

522,000

Silesian German

sli

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central

11,000

Slovak

sk

Indo-European, Slavic, West, Czech–Slovak

5,200,000

Slovakia

Vojvodina (Serbia), Czech Republic

Slovene

sl

Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western

2,100,000

Slovenia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy), Austria (Carinthia, Styria)

Sorbian (Wendish)

wen

Indo-European, Slavic, West

20,000

Brandenburg & Sachsen (Germany)

Spanish

es

Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian

47,000,000

76,000,000

Spain

Gibraltar (United Kingdom)

Swabian German

swg

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic

820,000

Swedish

sv

Indo-European, Germanic, North

11,100,000

13,280,000

Sweden, Finland, Åland

Swiss German

gsw

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic

5,000,000

Switzerland (as German)

Tabasaran

tab

Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic

126,900

Dagestan (Russia)

Tat

ttt

Indo-European, Iranian, Western

30,000

Dagestan (Russia)

Tatar

tt

Turkic, Kipchak

4,300,000

Tatarstan (Russia)

Tindi

tin

Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic

2,200

Tsez

ddo

Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic

13,000

Turkish

tr

Turkic, Oghuz

15,752,673

Turkey, Cyprus

Northern Cyprus

Udmurt

udm

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Permic

340,000

Udmurtia (Russia)

Ukrainian

uk

Indo-European, Slavic, East

32,600,000

Ukraine

Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova)

Upper Saxon

sxu

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central

2,000,000

Vepsian

vep

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

1,640

Republic of Karelia (Russia)

Venetian

vec

Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian

3,800,000

Veneto (Italy)

Võro

vro

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

87,000

Võru County (Estonia)

Votic

vot

Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic

21

Walloon

wa

Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl

600,000

Wallonia (Belgium)

Walser German

wae

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic

20,000

Welsh

cy

Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic

562,000

750,000

Wales (United Kingdom)

West-Flemish

vls

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian

1,400,000

French Flanders (France)

Wymysorys

wym

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German

70

Yenish

yec

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German

16,000

Switzerland

Yiddish

yi

Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German

600,000

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine

Zeelandic

zea

Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian

220,000

Languages spoken in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, and Turkey

There are various definitions of Europe, which may or may not include all or parts of Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. For convenience, the languages and associated statistics for all five of these countries are grouped together on this page, as they are usually presented at a national, rather than subnational, level.

Name

ISO-639

Classification

Speakers in expanded geopolitical Europe

Official status

L1

L1+L2

National

Regional

Abkhaz

ab

Northwest Caucasian, Abazgi

Abkhazia/Georgia: 191,000Turkey: 44,000

Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Adyghe (West Circassian)

ady

Northwest Caucasian, Circassian

Turkey: 316,000

Albanian

sq

Indo-European, Albanian

Turkey: 66,000 (Tosk)

Arabic

ar

Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, West

Turkey: 2,437,000 Not counting post-2014 Syrian refugees

Armenian

hy

Indo-European, Armenian

Armenia: 3 millionAzerbaijan: 145,000 Georgia: around 0.2 million ethnic Armenians (Abkhazia: 44,870)Turkey: 61,000Cyprus: 668

ArmeniaAzerbaijan

Cyprus

Azerbaijani

az

Turkic, Oghuz

Azerbaijan 9 millionTurkey: 540,000Georgia 0.2 million

Azerbaijan

Batsbi

bbl

Northeast Caucasian, Nakh

Georgia: 500

Bulgarian

bg

Indo-European, Slavic, South

Turkey: 351,000

Crimean Tatar

crh

Turkic, Kipchak

Turkey: 100,000

Georgian

ka

Kartvelian, Karto-Zan

Georgia: 3,224,696 Turkey: 151,000 Azerbaijan: 9,192 ethnic Georgians

Georgia

Greek

el

Indo-European, Hellenic

Cyprus: 679,883 Turkey: 3,600

Cyprus

Juhuri

jdt

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Southwest

Azerbaijan: 24,000 (1989)

Kurdish

kur

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest

Turkey: 15 millionAzerbaijan: 9,000

Kurmanji

kmr

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest

Turkey: 8.13 million Armenia: 33,509Georgia: 14,000

Armenia

Laz

lzz

Kartvelian, Karto-Zan, Zan

Turkey: 20,000 Georgia: 2,000

Megleno-Romanian

ruq

Indo-European, Italic, Romance, East

Turkey: 4–5,000

Mingrelian

xmf

Kartvelian, Karto-Zan, Zan

Georgia (including Abkhazia): 344,000

Pontic Greek

pnt

Indo-European, Hellenic

Turkey: greater than 5,000Armenia: 900 ethnic Caucasus GreeksGeorgia: 5,689 Caucasus Greeks

Romani language and Domari language

rom, dmt

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indic

Turkey: 500,000

Russian

ru

Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic

Armenia: 15,000Azerbaijan: 250,000Georgia: 130,000

Armenia: about 0.9 million Azerbaijan: about 2.6 million Georgia: about 1 millionCyprus: 20,984

AbkhaziaSouth Ossetia

Armenia Azerbaijan

Svan

sva

Kartvelian, Svan

Georgia (incl. Abkhazia): 30,000

Tat

ttt

Indo-European, Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Southwest

Azerbaijan: 10,000

Turkish

tr

Turkic, Oghuz

Turkey: 66,850,000 Cyprus: 1,405 + 265,100 in the North

Turkey Cyprus Northern Cyprus

Zazaki

zza

Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest

Turkey: 3–4 million (2009)

Immigrant communities

Recent (post–1945) immigration to Europe introduced substantial communities of speakers of non-European languages.

The largest such communities include Arabic speakers (see Arabs in Europe) and Turkish speakers (beyond European Turkey and the historical sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire, see Turks in Europe). Armenians, Berbers, and Kurds have diaspora communities of 1–2,000,000 each. The various languages of Africa and languages of India form numerous smaller diaspora communities.

  1. List of the largest immigrant languages

Name

ISO 639

Classification

Native

Ethnic diaspora

Arabic

ar

Afro-Asiatic, Semitic

5,000,000

Unknown

Turkish

tr

Turkic, Oghuz

3,000,000

7,000,000

Armenian

hy

Indo-European

1,000,000

3,000,000

Bengali

bn

Indo-European, Indo-Aryan

600,000

1,000,000

Kurdish

ku

Indo-European, Iranian, Western

600,000

1,000,000

Azerbaijani

az

Turkic, Oghuz

500,000

700,000

Kabyle

kab

Afro-Asiatic, Berber

500,000

1,000,000

Chinese

zh

Sino-Tibetan, Sinitic

300,000

2,000,000

Urdu

ur

Indo-European, Indo-Aryan

300,000

1,800,000

Uzbek

uz

Turkic, Karluk

300,000

2,000,000

Persian

fa

Indo-European, Iranian, Western

300,000

400,000

Punjabi

pa

Indo-European, Indo-Aryan

300,000

700,000

Gujarati

gu

Indo-European, Indo-Aryan

200,000

600,000

Tamil

ta

Dravidian

200,000

500,000

Somali

so

Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic

200,000

400,000

See also

Notes

References