How many people in the world speak a European language?

 

Europe has more than 50 total languages that include over 100 regional dialects most of which typically fall under some branch of the following: Romance, Germanic, or Slavic. Listed below are the most common languages spoken. If your don’t see a language on the following list, it’s probably because the number of total speakers almost exactly matches the country’s population.

 

Incidentally, the last one on the list is a bit of a wildcard. It is totally synthetic universal language called Esperanto. It was designed to be a simple, easy to learn language (10 times faster than other languages) that incorporated basic Latin principles with English and German without irregularities and conjugations. Its appeal was that it did not impose a cultural bias (it was neutral) and it was international. In fact, it nearly caught on for larger applications like the United Nations. Being very popular until World War I, it soon fell under severe scrutiny by the Fascists, Stalinists, and Nazis (i.e. Hitler banished it from being spoken). Despite the continuing efforts of its many followers, English by far seems to have supplanted their mission as the new universal language. For more info, see www.esperanto.net (an excellent webring) or if in Vienna, stop by and visit the Esperanto museum expressly dedicated to promoting their cause at:

 

Esperanto Museum- Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria .Website: www.onb.ac.at/ev/collections/esperanto/index.htm

 

 

 

Language Est. Native Speakers Est. Total Speakers

English 427 million 800 million

Spanish 266 million 400 million

Portuguese 165 million 275 million

Russian 150 million 280 million

German 100 million 121 million

French 90 million 116 million

Italian 60 million 65 million

Dutch 20 million NA

Euskara 3 million NA

Gaelic 1 million NA

Welsh 500,000 NA

Esperanto NA 2 million

*NA-not available

 

https://europerevealed.com/how-many-people-in-the-world-speak-a-european-language/