Languages which have more than 100 million native speakers

[linguaholic]

I would like to share with you an interesting list (from Wikipedia) showing all the languages that actually have more than 100 million native speakers. Does this correspond to what you were thinking in the first place? Just click on the picture and it will display in a bigger size.

[kitkat0124]

This is very informative. Thanks for sharing. Before looking at the picture, I was thinking Mandarin will be the first on the list because of their population, but spanish being second, I did not expect that. I'm thinking English to be the second.

[tulosai]

This pretty much does correspond to what I thought.  I am also surprised Spanish is 2nd, though, and would have expected French to crack the top 10 given how important it is in some places (i.e. official language of Olympics, U.N. etc).  I am ashamed to admit I also have never heard of Bengal and don't know what it is- must look up ASAP.

[pcgamer]

Hindi is one of those rare languages. I reside in Indian, the second most populated country in the world boasting with more than 100 million people. So, it obvious that we have more People speaking Hindi, our native language.

[LauraM]

Thanks so much for sharing the chart.  Mandarian was not a surprise.  I'm also not surprised that English is third after Spanish as there are so many countries in which is is the native language, including an entire continent. 

It makes complete sense that English would be second when non-native speakers are counted as it is so widely chosen as a second language.

I was surprised to see Portuguese rank so high on the list.  I think that one was the biggest surprise for me. 

[pftsusan]

English.  Then they should also have British, American, Canandian and Austrailian English.

[Gregor]

And I'm sure that Charles de Gaulle will be truning in his grave in Colombay les Deux Eglises when he sees that French doesn't feature at all.

[thekernel]

The first five were exactly what I'd thought would be, though not in that order. I saw Portuguese, was surprised, but then remembered Brazil and it made sense. Bengali was the most unexpected of all.

[Czarownica]

English.  Then they should also have British, American, Canandian and Austrailian English.

That's still English The difference between those variations of English is not big enough to have them as separate languages.

I'm glad that Japanese has so many speakers... Maybe I won't be unemployed once I get my college degree!  :wacky: (yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that)

[bonniea]

Portuguese is probably high on the list because of Brazil. That's a very large country with millions of citizens. Most of the list was along the lines of what I was thinking. I too was surprised about French. I thought there were several countries in Africa where French was the official language?

[mareebaybay]

Most of those languages are all some of which that did not surprise me much. I was kind of anticipating all of them but a few. I mean I knew English was a first runner up.

[Kotro]

While Brazil definitly contributes to push the numbers of Portuguese up, it's not alone in speaking it - there are over 50 million native speakers of Portuguese outside Brazil. It is the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere, often used as lingua franca in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of the most widespread in the World, with every continent having at least one country where Portuguese is an official language. It is also an official language of over 25 international organizations.

[SpiralArchitect]

Bengali was the most unexpected of all.

I wasn't, but mostly because I am aware that it is spoken in Bangladesh which is one of the most populous countries in the world. Apart from that it is also spoken in the relatively heavily populated state of West Bengal here in India. Although, the fact that French is not there surprises me too.

[Dieselfit]

Interesting list and for sure it's no surprise English is at the very top. It's the number one language where everyone can use and understand. It's not too hard to learn either.