List of languages by number of speakers in Europe

This is a list of European languages by the number of native speakers in Europe only.

List RankNameNative speakersTotal speakers1Russian106,000,000L1: 119 million in the Russian Federation (of which c. 83 million in European Russia), 14.3 million in Ukraine, 6.67 million in Belarus, 0.67 million in Latvia, 0.38 million in Estonia, 0.38 million in Moldova. L1+L2: c. 100 million in European Russia, 39 million in Ukraine, 7 million in Belarus, 7 million in Poland, 2 million in Latvia, c. 2 million in the European portion of Kazakhstan, 1.8 million in Moldova, 1.1 million in Estonia. .160,000,0002German85,000,000130,000,0003French67,000,000112,000,0004English67,000,000280,000,0005Italian58,000,00072,000,0006Spanish40,000,00076,000,0007Polish38,000,0008Ukrainian32,600,0009Romanian24,000,00028,000,00010Dutch22,000,00024,000,00011Serbo-Croatian19,000,00011Turkish15,752,673c. 12 million in European Turkey, 0.6 million in Bulgaria, 0.6 million in Cyprus and Northern Cyprus; and 2,679,765 L1 speakers in other countries in Europe according to a Eurobarometer survey in 2012: https://languageknowledge.eu/languages/turkish12Bavarian14,000,000German dialect, 13Portuguese11,000,00014Hungarian11,000,00015Greek11,000,00016Czech10,600,00017Swedish10,000,00011,000,00018Catalan10,000,00019Serbian9,000,00020Bulgarian7,800,00021Albanian Arbëresh Arvanitika22Neapolitan5,700,00023Croatian5,600,00024Danish5,500,00025Finnish5,400,00026Norwegian5,200,000Slovak5,200,00028Swiss German5,000,000German dialect, 29Mainfränkisch4,900,000German dialect, 30Sicilian4,700,00031Tatar4,300,00032Venetian3,800,00033Lombard3,600,00034Belarusian3,300,00035Lithuanian3,000,00036Bosnian2,500,00037Galician2,400,00038Slovene2,100,00039Upper Saxon2,000,000German dialect, 40Irish1,873,997 (census) 240,00041Latvian1,750,00042Macedonian1,600,000Piedmontese1,600,00043Romani1,500,000 44Chechen1,400,00045Sardinian1,350,000AA. VV. Calendario Atlante De Agostini 2017, Novara, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, 2016, p. 23046Limburgish1,300,000 (2001)47Bashkir1,221,00048Chuvash1,100,00049Estonian1,165,40050Low German (Low Saxon)1,000,0002.6 million cited as estimate of all Germans who speak Platt "well or very well" (including L2; 4.3 million cited as the number of all speakers including those with "moderate" knowledge) in 2009. Heute in Bremen. „Ohne Zweifel gefährdet". Frerk Möller im Interview, taz, 21. Februar 2009. However, Wirrer (1998) described Low German as "moribund".Jan Wirrer: Zum Status des Niederdeutschen. In: Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik. 26, 1998, S. 309. The number of native speakers is unknown, estimated at 1 million by SIL Ethnologue. , 2,600,000Kazakh1,000,000About 10 million in Kazakhstan. . Technically, the westernmost portions of Kazakhstan (Atyrau Region, West Kazakhstan Region) are in Europe, with a total population of less than one million.Palatinate German1,000,000German dialect, 53Ripuarian (Platt)900,000German dialect, 54Swabian German820,000German dialect, 55Avar760,00056Basque750,000 VI° Enquête Sociolinguistique en Euskal herria (Communauté Autonome d'Euskadi, Navarre et Pays Basque Nord) (2016).57Friulan600,000e18|fur|FriulanWalloon600,000Yiddish600,000Total population estimated at 1.5 million as of 1991, of which c. 40% in Ukraine. , , 60Welsh538,000 899,500750,00061Kabardian530,00062Silesian522,00063Maltese520,00064Azerbaijani500,000c. 130,000 in Dagestan. In addition, there are about 0.5 million speakers in immigrant communities in Russia, see #Immigrant communities. Ligurian500,000Mari500,000Occitan500,000. Includes Auvergnat, Gascon, Languedocien, Limousin, Provençal, Vivaro-Alpine. Most native speakers are in France; their number is unknown, as varieties of Occitan are treated as French dialects with no official status.68Crimean Tatar480,00069Frisian470,00070Kumyk450,000Ossetian450,000Total 570,000, of which 450,000 in the Russian Federation. 72Rhaeto-Romance370,000Includes Friulian, Romansh, Ladin. 73Asturian (Astur-Leonese)351,791III Sociolinguistic Study of Asturias (2017). Euskobarometro.641,50274Udmurt340,00075Luxembourgish336,000386,00076Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)320,000fewSIL Ethnologue: "Not the dominant language for most. Formerly the main language of Sephardic Jewry. Used in literary and music contexts." ca. 100k speakers in total, most of them in Israel, small communities in the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and in Spain.77Icelandic330,00078Karachay-Balkar300,000Ingush300,00080Montenegrin240,70081Komi220,000220,000 native speakers out of an ethnic population of 550,000. Combines Komi-Permyak (koi) with 65,000 speakers and Komi-Zyrian (kpv) with 156,000 speakers. Zeelandic220,00083Breton206,00084Extremaduran200,000Picard200,00086Franco-Provençal (Arpitan)140,000Gagauz140,00087Tabasaran126,90088Erzya120,00089Adyghe117,50090Aromanian114,00091Scots110,00092Võro87,00093Kalmyk80,50094Faroese66,15095Scottish Gaelic57,00096Norman50,000Kashubian50,00098Abaza49,80099Karelian36,000100Corsican30,000125,000Tat30,000, 2,000 speakers in the Russian Federation according to the 2010 census (including Judeo-Tat). About 28,000 speakers in Azerbaijan; most speakers live along or just north of the Caucasus ridge (and are thus technically in Europe), with some also settling just south of the Caucasus ridge, in the South Caucasus.102Aragonese25,000https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/60448 Report about Census of population 2011 of Aragonese Sociolinguistics Seminar and University of Zaragoza55,000103Sami23,000mostly Northern Sami (sma), ca. 20,000 speakers; smaller communities of Lule Sami (smj, c. 2,000 speakers) and other variants. , , , , .104Walser German20,000Highest Alemannic dialects, Sorbian (Wendish)20,000Italiot Greek20,000 native speakers in 1981N. Vincent, Italian, in B. Comrie (ed.) The world's major languages, London, Croom Helm, 1981. pp. 279–302.50,000107Yenish16,000108Silesian German11,000German dialect, 109Nenets4,000total 22,000 native speakers (2010 Russian census) out of an ethnic population of 44,000. Most of these are in Siberia, with about 8,000 ethnic Nenets in European Russia (2010 census, mostly in Nenets Autonomous Okrug)110Mirandese3,500Persente i feturo de la lhéngua mirandesa, Universidade de Vigo111Megleno-Romanian3,000112Kven2,000-8,000113Moksha2,000Elfdalian2,000114Vepsian1,640Russian Census 2010. 115Istro-Romanian1,100116Istriot900117Cornish557UK 2011 Census118Cimbrian400German dialect, 119Judeo-Italian250120Manx2302,300121Ingrian120122Wymysorysless than 2070Moribund German dialect spoken in Wilamowice, Poland. 70 speakers recorded in 2006. 123Latindeadonly several dozen and definitely less than 100Contemporary Latin: People fluent in Latin as a second language are probably in the dozens, not hundreds. Reginald Foster (as of 2013) estimated "no more than 100" according to Robin Banerji, Pope resignation: Who speaks Latin these days?, BBC News, 12 February 2013.unrankedEmilianRomagnol

Notes

References