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There are over 250 languages indigenous to Europe, and most belong to the Indo-European language family.[1][2] 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.
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Smaller phyla of Indo-European found in Europe include Hellenic (Greek, c. 13 million), Baltic (c. 4.5 million), Albanian (c. 7.5 million), Celtic (c. 4 million), and Armenian (c. 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, c. 1.5 million). However, a number of Indo-Aryan languages not native to Europe are spoken in Europe today.[2]
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, c. 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,[3] 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,[4] 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.)
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).
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[citation needed], the largest groups being German (c. 95 million), English (c. 400 million)[citation needed], Dutch (c. 24 million), Swedish (c. 10 million), Danish (c. 6 million), Norwegian (c. 5 million)[5] and Limburgish (c. 1.3 million).[citation needed]
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).[6]
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 (as of 2015[update]) Frisians,[9][10] 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.[9]
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.[11]
German is spoken throughout Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, much of Switzerland (including the northeast areas bordering on Germany and Austria), northern Italy (South Tyrol), Luxembourg, the East Cantons of Belgium and the Alsace and Lorraine regions of France.[12]
There are several groups of German dialects:
Low German is spoken in various regions throughout Northern Germany and the northern and eastern parts of the Netherlands. It is an official language in Germany[citation needed]. It may be separated into West Low German and East Low German.[14]
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).[citation needed]
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.[15] Even so, especially Dutch and Swedish, but also Danish and Norwegian, have strong vocabulary connections to the German language.[16][17][18]
Limburgish (also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic) Is a West Germanic language spoken in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands, Belgium and neighboring regions of Germany. It is distinct from German and Dutch, but originates from areas near where both are spoken.[19]
Roughly 215 million Europeans (primarily in Southern and Western Europe) are native speakers of Romance languages, the largest groups including:[citation needed]
French (c. 72 million), Italian (c. 65 million), Spanish (c. 40 million), Romanian (c. 24 million), Portuguese (c. 10 million), Catalan (c. 7 million), Sicilian (c. 5 million, also subsumed under Italian), Venetian (c. 4 million), Galician (c. 2 million), Sardinian (c. 1 million),[20][21][22] Occitan (c. 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.[citation needed] 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.[23]
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.[citation needed]
Slavic languages are spoken in large areas of Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. An estimated 315 million people speak a Slavic language,[24] the largest groups being Russian (c. 110 million in European Russia and adjacent parts of Eastern Europe, Russian forming the largest linguistic community in Europe), Polish (c. 40 million[25]), Ukrainian (c. 33 million[26]), Serbo-Croatian (c. 18 million[27]), Czech (c. 11 million[28]), Bulgarian (c. 8 million[29]), Slovak (c. 5 million[30]), Belarusian (c. 3.7 million[31]), Slovene (c. 2.3 million[32]) and Macedonian (c. 1.6 million[33]).
Phylogenetically, Slavic is divided into three subgroups:[34]
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Uralic language family is native to northern Eurasia. Finnic languages include Finnish (c. 5 million) and Estonian (c. 1 million), as well as smaller languages such as Kven (c. 8,000). Other languages of the Finno-Permic branch of the family include e.g. Mari (c. 400,000), and the Sami languages (c. 30,000).[citation needed]
The Ugric branch of the language family is represented in Europe by the Hungarian language (c. 13 million), historically introduced with the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin of the 9th century.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed]
Several dozen manual languages exist across Europe, with the most widespread sign language family being the Francosign languages, with its 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, though very few institutions take appropriate statistics on contemporary signing populations, making legitimate data hard to find.[citation needed]
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.[62]
Recognition of non-oral languages varies widely from region to region.[63] Some countries afford legal recognition, even to official on a state level, whereas others continue to be actively suppressed.[64]
Though "there is a widespread belief—among both Deaf people and sign language linguists—that there are sign language families,"[65] 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.[66] Some of the current understandings of sign language relationships, however, provide some reasonable estimates about potential sign language families:
In the Middle Ages the two most important defining elements of Europe were Christianitas and Latinitas.[70]
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 standardisation of languages).[citation needed]
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 standardise 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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:
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.[77] 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.[78][79]
The main scripts used in Europe today are the Latin and Cyrillic.[80]
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 940 AD.[citation needed]
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".[81] 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.[citation needed]
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.[82]
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.[83]
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.[84] 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.[85]
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.[86] 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 "Eurobarometer 243". In this study, statistically relevant[clarification needed][Do you mean "significant"?] 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".[87]
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;[nb 1] 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.[citation needed]
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).[88]
| Name | ISO- 639 |
Classification | Speakers in Europe | Official status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native | Total | National[nb 2] | Regional | |||
| Abaza | abq | Northwest Caucasian, Abazgi | 49,800[89] | Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia) | ||
| Adyghe | ady | Northwest Caucasian, Circassian | 117,500[90] | Adygea (Russia) | ||
| Aghul | agx | Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic | 29,300[91] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Akhvakh | akv | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 210[92] | |||
| Albanian (Shqip) Arbëresh Arvanitika | sq | Indo-European | 5,367,000[93] 5,877,100[94] (Balkans) | Albania, Kosovo[nb 3], North Macedonia | Italy, Arbëresh dialect: Sicily, Calabria,[95] Apulia, Molise, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Campania Montenegro (Ulcinj, Tuzi) | |
| Andi | ani | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 5,800[96] | |||
| Aragonese | an | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 25,000[97] | 55,000[98] | Northern Aragon (Spain)[nb 4] | |
| Archi | acq | Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic | 970[99] | |||
| Aromanian | rup | Indo-European, Romance, Eastern | 114,000[100] | North Macedonia (Kruševo) | ||
| Asturian (Astur-Leonese) | ast | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 351,791[101] | 641,502[101] | Asturias[nb 4] | |
| Avar | av | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 760,000 | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Azerbaijani | az | Turkic, Oghuz | 500,000[102] | Azerbaijan | Dagestan (Russia) | |
| Bagvalal | kva | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 1,500[103] | |||
| Bashkir | ba | Turkic, Kipchak | 1,221,000[104] | Bashkortostan (Russia) | ||
| Basque | eu | Basque | 750,000[105] | Basque Country: Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre (Spain), French Basque Country (France)[nb 4] | ||
| Bavarian | bar | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Bavarian | 14,000,000[106] | Austria (as German) | South Tyrol | |
| Belarusian | be | Indo-European, Slavic, East | 3,300,000[107] | Belarus | ||
| Bezhta | kap | Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic | 6,800[108] | |||
| Bosnian | bs | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian | 2,500,000[109] | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Kosovo[nb 3], Montenegro | |
| Botlikh | bph | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 210[110] | |||
| Breton | br | Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic | 206,000[111] | None, de facto status in Brittany (France) | ||
| Bulgarian | bg | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern | 7,800,000[112] | Bulgaria | Mount Athos (Greece) | |
| Catalan | ca | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Occitano-Romance | 4,000,000[113] | 10,000,000[114] | Andorra | Balearic Islands (Spain), Catalonia (Spain), Valencian Community (Spain), easternmost Aragon (Spain)[nb 4], Pyrénées-Orientales (France)[nb 4], Alghero (Italy) |
| Chamalal | cji | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 500[115] | |||
| Chechen | ce | Northeast Caucasian, Nakh | 1,400,000[116] | Chechnya & Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Chuvash | cv | Turkic, Oghur | 1,100,000[117] | Chuvashia (Russia) | ||
| Cimbrian | cim | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Bavarian | 400[118] | |||
| Cornish | kw | Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic | 563[119] | Cornwall (United Kingdom)[nb 4] | ||
| Corsican | co | Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian | 30,000[120] | 125,000[120] | Corsica (France), Sardinia (Italy) | |
| Crimean Tatar | crh | Turkic, Kipchak | 480,000[121] | Crimea (Ukraine) | ||
| Croatian | hr | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian | 5,600,000[122] | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia | Burgenland (Austria), Vojvodina (Serbia) | |
| Czech | cs | Indo-European, Slavic, West, Czech–Slovak | 10,600,000[123] | Czech Republic | ||
| Danish | da | Indo-European, Germanic, North | 5,500,000[124] | Denmark | Faroe Islands (Denmark), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)[125] | |
| Dargwa | dar | Northeast Caucasian, Dargin | 490,000[126] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Dutch | nl | Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian | 22,000,000[127] | 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[128] | 260,000,000[129] | Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom | |
| Erzya | myv | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Mordvinic | 120,000[130] | Mordovia (Russia) | ||
| Estonian | et | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 1,165,400[131] | Estonia | ||
| Extremaduran | ext | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 200,000[132] | |||
| Fala | fax | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 11,000[133] | |||
| Faroese | fo | Indo-European, Germanic, North | 66,150[134] | Faroe Islands (Denmark) | ||
| Finnish | fi | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 5,400,000[135] | Finland | Sweden, Norway, Republic of Karelia (Russia) | |
| Franco-Provençal (Arpitan) | frp | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance | 140,000[136] | Aosta Valley (Italy) | ||
| French | fr | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl | 81,000,000[137] | 210,000,000[129] | Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, Jersey | Aosta Valley[138] (Italy) |
| Frisian | fry frr stq | Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian | 470,000[139] | Friesland (Netherlands), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)[140] | ||
| Friulan | fur | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic | 600,000[141] | Friuli (Italy) | ||
| Gagauz | gag | Turkic, Oghuz | 140,000[142] | Gagauzia (Moldova) | ||
| Galician | gl | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 2,400,000[143] | Galicia (Spain), Eo-Navia (Asturias)[nb 4], Bierzo (Province of León)[nb 4] and Western Sanabria (Province of Zamora)[nb 4] | ||
| German | de | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German | 97,000,000[144] | 170,000,000[129] | Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland | South Tyrol,[145] Friuli-Venezia Giulia[146] (Italy) |
| Godoberi | gin | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 130[147] | |||
| Greek | el | Indo-European, Hellenic | 13,500,000[148] | Cyprus, Greece | Albania (Finiq, Dropull) | |
| Hinuq | gin | Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic | 350[149] | |||
| Hungarian | hu | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric | 13,000,000[150] | Hungary | Burgenland (Austria), Vojvodina (Serbia), Romania, Slovakia, Subcarpathia (Ukraine), Prekmurje, (Slovenia) | |
| Hunzib | bph | Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic | 1,400[151] | |||
| Icelandic | is | Indo-European, Germanic, North | 330,000[152] | Iceland | ||
| Ingrian | izh | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 120[153] | |||
| Ingush | inh | Northeast Caucasian, Nakh | 300,000[154] | Ingushetia (Russia) | ||
| Irish | ga | Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic | 240,000[155] | 2,000,000 | Ireland | Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) |
| Istriot | ist | Indo-European, Romance | 900[156] | |||
| Istro-Romanian | ruo | Indo-European, Romance, Eastern | 1,100[157] | |||
| Italian | it | Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian | 65,000,000[158] | 82,000,000[129] | Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City | Istria County (Croatia), Slovenian Istria (Slovenia) |
| Judeo-Italian | itk | Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian | 250[159] | |||
| Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino) | lad | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 320,000[160] | few[161] | Bosnia and Herzegovina[nb 4], France[nb 4] | |
| Kabardian | kbd | Northwest Caucasian, Circassian | 530,000[162] | Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia) | ||
| Kaitag | xdq | Northeast Caucasian, Dargin | 30,000[163] | |||
| Kalmyk | xal | Mongolic | 80,500[164] | Kalmykia (Russia) | ||
| Karata | kpt | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 260[165] | |||
| Karelian | krl | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 36,000[166] | Republic of Karelia (Russia) | ||
| Karachay-Balkar | krc | Turkic, Kipchak | 300,000[167] | Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia) | ||
| Kashubian | csb | Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic | 50,000[168] | Poland | ||
| Kazakh | kk | Turkic, Kipchak | 1,000,000[169] | Kazakhstan | Astrakhan Oblast (Russia) | |
| Khwarshi | khv | Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic | 1,700[170] | |||
| Komi | kv | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Permic | 220,000[171] | Komi Republic (Russia) | ||
| Kubachi | ugh | Northeast Caucasian, Dargin | 7,000[172] | |||
| Kumyk | kum | Turkic, Kipchak | 450,000[173] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Kven | fkv | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 2000-8000 | Norway | ||
| Lak | lbe | Northeast Caucasian, Lak | 152,050[174] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Latin | la | Indo-European, Italic, Latino-Faliscan | extinct | few[175] | Vatican City | |
| Latvian | lv | Indo-European, Baltic | 1,750,000[176] | Latvia | ||
| Lezgin | lez | Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic | 397,000[177] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Ligurian | lij | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic | 500,000[178] | Monaco (Monégasque dialect is the "national language") | Liguria (Italy), Carloforte and Calasetta (Sardinia, Italy)[179][180] | |
| Limburgish | li lim | Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian | 1,300,000 (2001)[181] | Limburg (Belgium), Limburg (Netherlands) | ||
| Lithuanian | lt | Indo-European, Baltic | 3,000,000[182] | Lithuania | ||
| Livonian | liv | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 1[183] | 210[184] | Latvia[nb 4] | |
| Lombard | lmo | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic | 3,600,000[185] | Lombardy (Italy) | ||
| Low German (Low Saxon) | nds wep | Indo-European, Germanic, West | 1,000,000[186] | 2,600,000[186] | Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)[187] | |
| Ludic | lud | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 300[188] | |||
| Luxembourgish | lb | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German | 336,000[189] | 386,000[189] | Luxembourg | Wallonia (Belgium) |
| Macedonian | mk | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern | 1,400,000[190] | North Macedonia | ||
| Mainfränkisch | vmf | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper | 4,900,000[191] | |||
| Maltese | mt | Semitic, Arabic | 520,000[192] | Malta | ||
| Manx | gv | Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic | 230[193] | 2,300[194] | Isle of Man | |
| Mari | chm mhr mrj | Uralic, Finno-Ugric | 500,000[195] | Mari El (Russia) | ||
| Megleno-Romanian | ruq | Indo-European, Romance, Eastern | 3,000[196] | |||
| Minderico | drc | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 500[197] | |||
| Mirandese | mwl | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 15,000[198] | Miranda do Douro (Portugal) | ||
| Moksha | mdf | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Mordvinic | 2,000[199] | Mordovia (Russia) | ||
| Montenegrin | cnr | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian | 240,700[200] | Montenegro | ||
| Neapolitan | nap | Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian | 5,700,000[201] | Campania (Italy)[202] | ||
| Nenets | yrk | Uralic, Samoyedic | 4,000[203] | Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Russia) | ||
| Nogai | nog | Turkic, Kipchak | 87,000[204] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Norman | nrf | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl | 50,000[205] | Guernsey (United Kingdom), Jersey (United Kingdom) | ||
| Norwegian | no | Indo-European, Germanic, North | 5,200,000[206] | Norway | ||
| Occitan | oc | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Occitano-Romance | 500,000[207] | Catalonia (Spain)[nb 5] | ||
| Ossetian | os | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern | 450,000[208] | North Ossetia-Alania (Russia), South Ossetia | ||
| Palatinate German | pfl | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central | 1,000,000[209] | |||
| Picard | pcd | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl | 200,000[210] | Wallonia (Belgium) | ||
| Piedmontese | pms | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic | 1,600,000[211] | Piedmont (Italy)[212] | ||
| Polish | pl | Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic | 38,500,000[213] | Poland | ||
| Portuguese | pt | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 10,000,000[214] | Portugal | ||
| Rhaeto-Romance | fur lld roh | Indo-European, Romance, Western | 370,000[215] | Switzerland | Veneto Belluno, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, South Tyrol,[216] & Trentino (Italy) | |
| Ripuarian (Platt) | ksh | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central | 900,000[217] | |||
| Romagnol | rgn | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic | ||||
| Romani | rom | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Western | 1,500,000[218] | Kosovo[nb 3][219] | ||
| Romanian | ro | Indo-European, Romance, Eastern | 24,000,000[220] | 28,000,000[221] | Moldova, Romania | Mount Athos (Greece), Vojvodina (Serbia) |
| Russian | ru | Indo-European, Slavic, East | 106,000,000[222] | 160,000,000[222] | Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia | Mount Athos (Greece), Gagauzia (Moldova), Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova), Ukraine |
| Rusyn | rue | Indo-European, Slavic, East | 70,000[223] | |||
| Rutul | rut | Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic | 36,400[224] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Sami | se | Uralic, Finno-Ugric | 23,000[225] | Norway | Sweden, Finland | |
| Sardinian | sc | Indo-European, Romance | 1,350,000[226] | Sardinia (Italy) | ||
| Scots | sco | Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian, Anglic | 110,000[227] | Scotland (United Kingdom), County Donegal (Republic of Ireland), Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) | ||
| Scottish Gaelic | gd | Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic | 57,000[228] | Scotland (United Kingdom) | ||
| Serbian | sr | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian | 9,000,000[229] | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo[nb 3], Serbia | Croatia, Mount Athos (Greece), North Macedonia, Montenegro | |
| Sicilian | scn | Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian | 4,700,000[230] | Sicily (Italy) | ||
| Silesian | szl | Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic | 522,000[231] | |||
| Silesian German | sli | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central | 11,000[232] | |||
| Slovak | sk | Indo-European, Slavic, West, Czech–Slovak | 5,200,000[233] | Slovakia | Vojvodina (Serbia), Czech Republic | |
| Slovene | sl | Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western | 2,100,000[234] | Slovenia | Friuli-Venezia Giulia[146] (Italy) | |
| Sorbian (Wendish) | wen | Indo-European, Slavic, West | 20,000[235] | Brandenburg & Sachsen (Germany)[236] | ||
| Spanish | es | Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian | 47,000,000[237] | 76,000,000[129] | Spain | Gibraltar (United Kingdom) |
| Swabian German | swg | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic | 820,000[238] | |||
| Swedish | sv | Indo-European, Germanic, North | 11,100,000[239] | 13,280,000[239] | Sweden, Finland, Åland and Estonia | |
| Swiss German | gsw | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic | 5,000,000[240] | Switzerland (as German) | ||
| Tabasaran | tab | Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic | 126,900[241] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Tat | ttt | Indo-European, Iranian, Western | 30,000[242] | Dagestan (Russia) | ||
| Tatar | tt | Turkic, Kipchak | 4,300,000[243] | Tatarstan (Russia) | ||
| Tindi | tin | Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic | 2,200[244] | |||
| Tsez | ddo | Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic | 13,000[245] | |||
| Turkish | tr | Turkic, Oghuz | 15,752,673[246] | Turkey, Cyprus | Northern Cyprus | |
| Udmurt | udm | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Permic | 340,000[247] | Udmurtia (Russia) | ||
| Ukrainian | uk | Indo-European, Slavic, East | 32,600,000[248] | Ukraine | Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova) | |
| Upper Saxon | sxu | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central | 2,000,000[249] | |||
| Vepsian | vep | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 1,640[250] | Republic of Karelia (Russia) | ||
| Venetian | vec | Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian | 3,800,000[251] | Veneto (Italy)[252] | ||
| Võro | vro | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 87,000[253] | Võru County (Estonia) | ||
| Votic | vot | Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic | 21[254] | |||
| Walloon | wa | Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl | 600,000[255] | Wallonia (Belgium) | ||
| Walser German | wae | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic | 20,000[256] | |||
| Welsh | cy | Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic | 562,000[257] | 750,000 | Wales (United Kingdom) | |
| Wymysorys | wym | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German | 70[258] | |||
| Yenish | yec | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German | 16,000[259] | Switzerland[nb 4] | ||
| Yiddish | yi | Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German | 600,000[260] | Bosnia and Herzegovina[nb 4], Netherlands[nb 4], Poland[nb 4], Romania[nb 4], Sweden[nb 4], Ukraine[nb 4] | ||
| Zeelandic | zea | Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian | 220,000[261] | |||
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[nb 6] | Regional | |||
| Abkhaz | ab | Northwest Caucasian, Abazgi | Abkhazia/Georgia:[262] 191,000[263] Turkey: 44,000[264] | Abkhazia | Abkhazia | |
| Adyghe (West Circassian) | ady | Northwest Caucasian, Circassian | Turkey: 316,000[264] | |||
| Albanian | sq | Indo-European, Albanian | Turkey: 66,000 (Tosk)[264] | |||
| Arabic | ar | Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, West | Turkey: 2,437,000 Not counting post-2014 Syrian refugees[264] | |||
| Armenian | hy | Indo-European, Armenian | Armenia: 3 million[265] Azerbaijan: 145,000 [citation needed] Georgia: around 0.2 million ethnic Armenians (Abkhazia: 44,870[266]) Turkey: 61,000[264] Cyprus: 668[267]: 3 | Armenia Azerbaijan | Cyprus | |
| Azerbaijani | az | Turkic, Oghuz | Azerbaijan 9 million[citation needed][268] Turkey: 540,000[264] Georgia 0.2 million | Azerbaijan | ||
| Batsbi | bbl | Northeast Caucasian, Nakh | Georgia: 500[269][needs update] | |||
| Bulgarian | bg | Indo-European, Slavic, South | Turkey: 351,000[264] | |||
| Crimean Tatar | crh | Turkic, Kipchak | Turkey: 100,000[264] | |||
| Georgian | ka | Kartvelian, Karto-Zan | Georgia: 3,224,696[270] Turkey: 151,000[264] Azerbaijan: 9,192 ethnic Georgians[271] | Georgia | ||
| Greek | el | Indo-European, Hellenic | Cyprus: 679,883[272]: 2.2 Turkey: 3,600[264] | Cyprus | ||
| Juhuri | jdt | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Southwest | Azerbaijan: 24,000 (1989)[273][needs update] | |||
| Kurdish | kur | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest | Turkey: 15 million[274] Azerbaijan: 9,000[citation needed] | |||
| Kurmanji | kmr | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest | Turkey: 8.13 million[275] Armenia: 33,509[276] Georgia: 14,000 [citation needed] | Armenia | ||
| Laz | lzz | Kartvelian, Karto-Zan, Zan | Turkey: 20,000[277] Georgia: 2,000[277] | |||
| Megleno-Romanian | ruq | Indo-European, Italic, Romance, East | Turkey: 4–5,000[278] | |||
| Mingrelian | xmf | Kartvelian, Karto-Zan, Zan | Georgia (including Abkhazia): 344,000[279] | |||
| Pontic Greek | pnt | Indo-European, Hellenic | Turkey: greater than 5,000[280] Armenia: 900 ethnic Caucasus Greeks[281] Georgia: 5,689 Caucasus Greeks[270] | |||
| Romani language and Domari language | rom, dmt | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indic | Turkey: 500,000[264] | |||
| Russian | ru | Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic | Armenia: 15,000[282] Azerbaijan: 250,000[282] Georgia: 130,000[282] | Armenia: about 0.9 million[283] Azerbaijan: about 2.6 million[283] Georgia: about 1 million[283] Cyprus: 20,984[284] | Abkhazia South Ossetia | Armenia Azerbaijan |
| Svan | sva | Kartvelian, Svan | Georgia (incl. Abkhazia): 30,000[285] | |||
| Tat | ttt | Indo-European, Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Southwest | Azerbaijan: 10,000[286][needs update] | |||
| Turkish | tr | Turkic, Oghuz | Turkey: 66,850,000[264] Cyprus: 1,405[287] + 265,100 in the North[288] | Turkey Cyprus Northern Cyprus | ||
| Zazaki | zza | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest | Turkey: 3–4 million (2009)[289][290] | |||
Recent (post–1945) immigration to Europe introduced substantial communities of speakers of non-European languages.[3]
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).[291] Armenians, Berbers, and Kurds have diaspora communities of c. 1–2,000,000 each. The various languages of Africa and languages of India form numerous smaller diaspora communities.
| Name | ISO 639 | Classification | Native | Ethnic diaspora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | ar | Afro-Asiatic, Semitic | 5,000,000[292] | Unknown |
| Turkish | tr | Turkic, Oghuz | 3,000,000[293] | 7,000,000[294] |
| Armenian | hy | Indo-European | 1,000,000[295] | 3,000,000[296] |
| Kurdish | ku | Indo-European, Iranian, Western | 600,000[297] | 1,000,000[298] |
| Bengali-Sylheti | bn syl | Indo-European, Indo-Aryan | 600,000[299] | 1,000,000[300] |
| Azerbaijani | az | Turkic, Oghuz | 500,000[301] | 700,000[302] |
| Kabyle | kab | Afro-Asiatic, Berber | 500,000[303] | 1,000,000[304] |
| Chinese | zh | Sino-Tibetan, Sinitic | 300,000[305] | 2,000,000[306] |
| Urdu | ur | Indo-European, Indo-Aryan | 300,000[307] | 1,800,000[308] |
| Uzbek | uz | Turkic, Karluk | 300,000[309] | 2,000,000[310] |
| Persian | fa | Indo-European, Iranian, Western | 300,000[311] | 400,000[312] |
| Punjabi | pa | Indo-European, Indo-Aryan | 300,000[313] | 700,000[314] |
| Gujarati | gu | Indo-European, Indo-Aryan | 200,000[315] | 600,000[316] |
| Tamil | ta | Dravidian | 200,000[317] | 500,000[318] |
| Somali | so | Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic | 200,000[319] | 400,000[320] |
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