ten languages you've never heard of

Ten languages you’ve never heard of

The following languages have at least 200,000 speakers (according to the latest figures) but we bet you haven’t heard of them…

1

Mapudungu

Where’s it spoken?Chile & Argentina.

How many people speak it?258,413 speakers

Counting in Mapudungun

2

Kodagu

Where’s it spoken?South West India

How many people speak it?241,000 speakers

This is the Kodagu alphabet (alsoknown as Coorgi-Cox in English)

3

Gascon

Where’s it spoken?France & Spain

How many people speak it?250,000 speakers

‘Mayretat’ and ‘Sindicat d’initiatibe’are both written in Gascon

4

Tuva

Where’s it spoken?Russia, Mongolia & China

How many people speak it?264,400 speakers

The Tuvan flag

5

Bangka

Where’s it spoken?Indonesia

How many people speak it?340,000 speakers

Bangka Island in Indonesia, wherethe language is spoken

6

Guajiro

Where’s it spoken?Columbia & Venezuela

How many people speak it?443,604 speakers

Wayuu people (speakers of Guajiro)on horseback

7

Yucatec

Where’s it spoken?Mexico, Belize & Guatemala

How many people speak it?706,000 speakers

Did you know..The 2006 film Apocalypto, directed by Mel Gibson, was filmed entirely in Yucatec Maya.

8

Ayacucho

Where’s it spoken?Peru

How many people speak it?900,000 speakers

The Andes are located in theAyacucho region of Peru

9

Aymara

Where’s it spoken?Peru, Bolivia & Chile

How many people speak it?219,000 speakers

Traditional Aymara ceremonyin Bolivia

10!

Bade

Where’s it spoken?Nigeria

How many people speak it?250,000 speakers

Bade Dancers

So…

How many did you know?

Find out more

These languages will soon be extinct.

If you want to learn more about endangeredlanguages and want to know what you can do tohelp protect them, visit:

www.endangeredlanguages.com