The six top-level language families, each of which has at least 5% of the world's languages. Together they represent nearly two-thirds of all languages and five-sixths of the world's population. A summary of the distribution of languages and their populations within these six families is the following:
Major Languages Families in the World
| Afro-Asiatic |
| Living Language |
Count |
353 |
| Porcent |
5.11 |
| Number of Speakers |
Count |
359,495,289 |
| Porcent |
6.03 |
| Countries |
Algeria, Bahrain, Cameroon, Chad, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen |
| Austronesian |
| Living Language |
Count |
1,231 |
| Porcent |
17.82 |
| Number of Speakers |
Count |
353,585,905 |
| Porcent |
5.93 |
| Countries |
Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, China, Cook Islands, East Timor, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Indonesia, Kiribati, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mayotte, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Wallis and Futuna |
| Indo-European |
| Living Language |
Count |
426 |
| Porcent |
6.17 |
| Number of Speakers |
Count |
2,721,969,619 |
| Porcent |
45.67 |
| Countries |
Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela |
| Niger-Congo |
| Living Language |
Count |
1,510 |
| Porcent |
21.86 |
| Number of Speakers |
Count |
382,257,169 |
| Porcent |
6.41 |
| Countries |
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Sino-Tibetan |
| Living Language |
Count |
445 |
| Porcent |
6.44 |
| Number of Speakers |
Count |
1,259,227,250 |
| Porcent |
21.13 |
| Countries |
Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Viet Nam |
| Trans-New Guinea |
| Living Language |
Count |
475 |
| Porcent |
6.88 |
| Number of Speakers |
Count |
3,334,267 |
| Porcent |
0.06 |
| Countries |
East Timor, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea |
|
|
