MATTERS OF SCALE.

• Position: Language facts and figures - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Unspoken Words

Percentage of the world's languages that are of European origin 4 percent

Percentage of the world's languages that originated in Africa 30 percent

Number of languages once spoken in the Peruvian Amazon (an area half the size of Alaska) 500

Number that survive today (almost half of which are in danger of extinction) 57

Number of world languages that exist today 6,800

Number of languages that have speaking populations robust enough to ensure their survival past the end of the century 600

Number of languages spoken by more than 1 million people 250

Number of languages spoken by less than 2,500 people around 3,000

Percentage of the world's 6 billion people that are considered indigenous 4 percent

Percentage of the world's 6, 800 languages that indigenous people speak 60 percent

Percentage of the world's children raised as bi-lingual speakers 66.0 percent

Percentage of U.S. residents who are bi-lingual 6.3 percent

Sources...