Across Translation

Number of living languages: 6912

Number of those languages that are nearly extinct: 516

Language with the greatest number of native speakers: Mandarin Chinese [See Top 30 languages]

Language spoken by the greatest number of non-native speakers: English (250 million to 350 million non-native speakers)

Country with the most languages spoken: Papua New Guinea has 820 living languages. [See Top 20 countries]

How long have languages existed: Since about 100,000 BC

First language ever written: Sumerian or Egyptian (about 3200 BC)

Oldest written language still in existence: Chinese or Greek (about 1500 BC)

Language with the most words: English, approx. 250,000 distinct words

Language with the fewest words: Taki Taki (also called Sranan), 340 words. Taki Taki is an English-based Creole spoken by 120,000 in the South American country of Suriname.

Language with the largest alphabet: Khmer (74 letters). This Austro-Asiatic language is the official language of Cambodia, where approx.12 million people speak it. Minority speakers live in a handful of other countries.

Language with the shortest alphabet: Rotokas (12 letters). Approx. 4300 people speak this East Papuan language. They live primarily in the Bougainville Province of Papua New Guinea.

The most widely published language: English

Language with the fewest irregular verbs: Esperanto (none)

The most translated document: Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, written by the United Nations in 1948, has been translated into 321 languages and dialects.