Ethnologue: Languages of the World

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a comprehensive reference work that provides information and statistics for all of the world’s known living languages. Since 1951, Ethnologue has been an active research project involving hundreds of linguists and other researchers around the world. It is widely regarded as the most comprehensive source of information of its kind.

Language descriptions in the Ethnologue are organized by world area, UN region and country. Entries include:

• The region(s) of use within the countries where the language is spoken
• Alternate names for the language
• Dialects of the language
• The three-letter code that identifies the language according to the ISO 639-3 standard
• Estimated population of speakers
• Genetic classification of the language
• Domains of language use and viability
• Language vitality rating according to EGIDS
• Identification of scripts used to write the language
• Citations of literature and other products of language development
   

Other key features of the site:

• Statistical summaries by world area, language size, language status, language family and country
• Extensive bibliography of references cited
• Over 200 color maps illustrating data