Misc
Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World
Published
12 months agoon
By
Iman Ghosh
Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide
Even though you’re reading this article in English, there’s a good chance it might not be your mother tongue. Of the billion-strong English speakers in the world, only 33% consider it their native language.
The popularity of a language depends greatly on utility and geographic location. Additionally, how we measure the spread of world languages can vary greatly depending on whether you look at total speakers or native speakers.
Today’s detailed visualization from WordTips illustrates the 100 most spoken languages in the world, the number of native speakers for each language, and the origin tree that each language has branched out from.
How Do You Define A Language?
The data comes from the 22nd edition of Ethnologue, a database covering a majority of the world’s population, detailing approximately 7,111 living languages in existence today.
The definitions of languages are often dynamic, blurring the lines around a singular understanding of what makes a language:
- Linguistic: focused on lexical and grammatical differences, or on variations within speech communities
- Social: focused on cultural or political factors, as well as heritage and identity
For the purposes of measurement, the researchers use the ISO 693-3 set of criteria, which accounts for related varieties and dialects—ensuring that linguistics are not the only factor considered in this count of languages.
Here are the language origins of the 100 most spoken languages:
Indo-European languages have the widest spread worldwide. According to Ethnologue, the language family contains over 3 billion speakers in total. Interestingly, there are actually 1,526 Niger-Congo languages altogether, though only 12 are represented here.
Let’s now dive into the top 10 most spoken languages overall.
Which Languages Have the Most Speakers?
It comes as no surprise that English reigns supreme, with over 1.1 billion total speakers—or roughly 15% of the global population. Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French round out the top five.
Rank | Language | Total Speakers | Language Origin |
---|---|---|---|
1 | English | 1,132 million | Indo-European |
2 | Mandarin Chinese | 1,117 million | Sino-Tibetan |
3 | Hindi | 615 million | Indo-European |
4 | Spanish | 534 million | Indo-European |
5 | French | 280 million | Indo-European |
6 | Standard Arabic | 274 million | Afro-Asiatic |
7 | Bengali | 265 million | Indo-European |
8 | Russian | 258 million | Indo-European |
9 | Portuguese | 234 million | Indo-European |
10 | Indonesian | 199 million | Austronesian |
However, this is only one piece in the full fabric of languages.
The metrics for native speakers tell a slightly different tale, as Mandarin Chinese shoots up to 918 million—almost 2.5x that of English native speakers.
Rank | Language | Native Speakers | Language Origin |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mandarin Chinese | 918 million | Sino-Tibetan |
2 | Spanish | 460 million | Indo-European |
3 | English | 379 million | Indo-European |
4 | Hindi | 341 million | Indo-European |
5 | Bengali | 228 million | Indo-European |
6 | Portuguese | 221 million | Indo-European |
7 | Russian | 154 million | Indo-European |
8 | Japanese | 128 million | Japanic |
9 | Western Punjabi | 93 million | Indo-European |
10 | Marathi | 83 million | Indo-European |
Note: No native speaker data was available for Filipino, Standard Arabic, Nigerian Pidgin, or Cameroonian Pidgin.
Here, Spanish comes in strong second for native speakers with 460 million, considering it’s well-used across Latin America. The Indian languages of Hindi and Bengali cap off the top five by native speakers as well.
These are the biggest languages people learn growing up, but what about the ones they pick up later in life?
What About Second (L2) Languages?
Nearly 43% of the world’s population is bilingual, with the ability to switch between two languages with ease.
From the data, second language (L2) speakers can be calculated by looking at the difference between native and total speakers, as a proportion of the total. For example, 66% of English speakers learned it as a second language.
Swahili surprisingly has the highest ratio of L2 speakers to total speakers—although it only has 16 million native speakers, this shoots up to 98 million total speakers. Overall, 82% of Swahili speakers know it as a second language.
Swahili is listed as a national or official language in several African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s likely that the movement of people from rural areas into big cities in search of better economic opportunities, is what’s boosting the adoption of Swahili as a second language.
Indonesian is another similar example. With a 78% proportion of L2 speakers compared to total speakers, this variation on the Malay language has been used as the lingua franca across the islands for a long time. In contrast, only 17% of Mandarin speakers know it as a second language, perhaps because it is one of the most challenging languages to learn.
Keeping Language Traditions Alive
Languages are fluid, and constantly evolving—altogether, the 100 most spoken languages paint a unique picture across centuries of a changing world. Here’s the full list of these languages, by types of speakers and language origin.
Rank | Language | Total Speakers | Native Speakers | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | English | 1,132M | 379M | Indo-European |
2 | Mandarin Chinese | 1,117M | 918M | Sino-Tibetan |
3 | Hindi | 615M | 341M | Indo-European |
4 | Spanish | 534M | 460M | Indo-European |
5 | French | 280M | 77M | Indo-European |
6 | Standard Arabic | 274M | NA | Afro-Asiatic |
7 | Bengali | 265M | 228M | Indo-European |
8 | Russian | 258M | 154M | Indo-European |
9 | Portuguese | 234M | 221M | Indo-European |
10 | Indonesian | 199M | 43M | Austronesian |
11 | Urdu | 170M | 69M | Indo-European |
12 | Standard German | 132M | 76M | Indo-European |
13 | Japanese | 128M | 128M | Japanic |
14 | Swahili | 98M | 16M | Niger-Congo |
15 | Marathi | 95M | 83M | Indo-European |
16 | Telugu | 93M | 82M | Dravidian |
17 | Western Punjabi | 93M | 93M | Indo-European |
18 | Wu Chinese | 82M | 81M | Sino-Tibetan |
19 | Tamil | 81M | 75M | Dravidian |
20 | Turkish | 80M | 69M | Turkic |
21 | Korean | 77M | 77M | Koreanic |
22 | Vietnamese | 77M | 76M | Austronesian |
23 | Yue Chinese | 74M | 73M | Sino-Tibetan |
24 | Javanese | 68M | 68M | Austronesian |
25 | Italian | 68M | 65M | Indo-European |
26 | Egyptian Spoken Arabic | 65M | 65M | Afro-Asiatic |
27 | Hausa | 63M | 44M | Afro-Asiatic |
28 | Thai | 61M | 21M | Kra-Dai |
29 | Gujarati | 61M | 56M | Indo-European |
30 | Kannada | 56M | 44M | Dravidian |
31 | Iranian Persian | 53M | 53M | Indo-European |
32 | Bhojpuri | 52M | 52M | Indo-European |
33 | Southern Min Chinese | 50M | 50M | Sino-Tibetan |
34 | Hakka Chinese | 48M | 48M | Sino-Tibetan |
35 | Jinyu Chinese | 47M | 47M | Sino-Tibetan |
36 | Filipino | 45M | NA | Austronesian |
37 | Burmese | 43M | 33M | Sino-Tibetan |
38 | Polish | 40M | 40M | Indo-European |
39 | Yoruba | 40M | 38M | Niger-Congo |
40 | Odia | 38M | 34M | Indo-European |
41 | Malayalam | 38M | 37M | Dravidian |
42 | Xiang Chinese | 37M | 37M | Sino-Tibetan |
43 | Maithili | 34M | 34M | Indo-European |
44 | Ukrainian | 33M | 27M | Indo-European |
45 | Moroccan Spoken Arabic | 33M | 27M | Afro-Asiatic |
46 | Eastern Punjabi | 33M | 33M | Indo-European |
47 | Sunda | 32M | 32M | Austronesian |
48 | Algerian Spoken Arabic | 32M | 29M | Afro-Asiatic |
49 | Sudanese Spoken Arabic | 32M | 32M | Afro-Asiatic |
50 | Nigerian Pidgin | 30M | NA | Indo-European |
51 | Zulu | 28M | 12M | Niger-Congo |
52 | Igbo | 27M | 27M | Niger-Congo |
53 | Amharic | 26M | 22M | Afro-Asiatic |
54 | Northern Uzbek | 25M | 25M | Turkic |
55 | Sindhi | 25M | 25M | Indo-European |
56 | North Levantine Spoken Arabic | 25M | 25M | Afro-Asiatic |
57 | Nepali | 25M | 16M | Indo-European |
58 | Romanian | 24M | 24M | Indo-European |
59 | Tagalog | 24M | 24M | Austronesian |
60 | Dutch | 23M | 23M | Indo-European |
61 | Sa'idi Spoken Arabic | 22M | 22M | Afro-Asiatic |
62 | Gan Chinese | 22M | 22M | Sino-Tibetan |
63 | Northern Pashto | 21M | 21M | Indo-European |
64 | Magahi | 21M | 21M | Indo-European |
65 | Saraiki | 20M | 20M | Indo-European |
66 | Xhosa | 19M | 8M | Niger-Congo |
67 | Malay | 19M | 16M | Austronesian |
68 | Khmer | 18M | 17M | Austronesian |
69 | Afrikaans | 18M | 7M | Indo-European |
70 | Sinhala | 17M | 15M | Indo-European |
71 | Somali | 16M | 16M | Afro-Asiatic |
72 | Chhattisgarhi | 16M | 16M | Indo-European |
73 | Cebuano | 16M | 16M | Austronesian |
74 | Mesopotamian Spoken Arabic | 16M | 16M | Afro-Asiatic |
75 | Assamese | 15M | 15M | Indo-European |
76 | Northeastern Thai | 15M | 15M | Kra-Dai |
77 | Northern Kurdish | 15M | 15M | Indo-European |
78 | Hijazi Spoken Arabic | 15M | 15M | Afro-Asiatic |
79 | Nigerian Fulfulde | 14M | 14M | Niger-Congo |
80 | Bavarian | 14M | 14M | Indo-European |
81 | Bamanankan | 14M | 4M | Niger-Congo |
82 | South Azerbaijani | 14M | 14M | Turkic |
83 | Northern Sotho | 14M | 5M | Niger-Congo |
84 | Setswana | 14M | 6M | Niger-Congo |
85 | Souther Sotho | 14M | 6M | Niger-Congo |
86 | Czech | 13M | 11M | Indo-European |
87 | Greek | 13M | 13M | Indo-European |
88 | Chittagonian | 13M | 13M | Indo-European |
89 | Kazakh | 13M | 13M | Turkic |
90 | Swedish | 13M | 10M | Indo-European |
91 | Deccan | 13M | 13M | Indo-European |
92 | Hungarian | 13M | 13M | Uralic |
93 | Jula | 12M | 2M | Niger-Congo |
94 | Sadri | 12M | 5M | Indo-European |
95 | Kinyarwanda | 12M | 12M | Niger-Congo |
96 | Cameroonian Pidgin | 12M | NA | Indo-European |
97 | Sylheti | 12M | 10M | Indo-European |
98 | South Levantine Spoken Arabic | 12M | 12M | Afro-Asiatic |
99 | Tunisian Spoken Arabic | 12M | 12M | Afro-Asiatic |
100 | Sanaani Spoken Arabic | 11M | 11M | Afro-Asiatic |
One reason these languages are popular is that they are actively and consistently used. Unfortunately, nearly 3,000 (about 40%) of all languages are at risk of being lost, or are already in the process of dying out today.
Languages play a crucial role in our daily lives. … [Their] losses have huge negative impacts indigenous peoples’ most basic human rights.
—UN, IYoIL statement
As a result, the United Nations declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYoIL), with a resolution to continue fostering these languages and pass on their knowledge for future generations.
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Visualized: A Global Risk Assessment of 2021 And Beyond
Which risks are top of mind in 2021? We visualize the World Economic Forum’s risk assessment for top global risks by impact and livelihood.
Published
2 days agoon
January 25, 2021
Visualized: A Global Risk Assessment of 2021 And Beyond
Risk is all around us. After the events of 2020, it’s not surprising that the level and variety of risks we face have become more pronounced than ever.
Every year, the World Economic Forum analyzes the top risks in the world in its Global Risks Report. Risks were identified based on 800+ responses of surveyed leaders across various levels of expertise, organizations, and regional distribution.
Which risks are top of mind in 2021?
The World’s Top Risks by Likelihood and Impact
According to WEF’s risk assessment methodology, all the global risks in 2021 fall into the following broad categories:
- 🔵 Economic
- 🟢 Environmental
- 🟠 Geopolitical
- 🔴 Societal
- 🟣 Technological
It goes without saying that infectious diseases have now become one of the top societal risks on both metrics of likelihood and impact.
That said, environmental risks continue to dominate the leaderboard, accounting for five of the top 10 risks by impact, especially when it comes to climate action failure.
Several countries are off-track in meeting emissions goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, while the pandemic has also delayed progress in the shift towards a carbon-neutral economy. Meanwhile, biodiversity loss is occurring at unprecedented rates.
Rank | Top Risks by Likelihood | Top Risks by Impact |
---|---|---|
#1 | 🟢Extreme weather | 🔴Infectious diseases |
#2 | 🟢Climate action failure | 🟢Climate action failure |
#3 | 🟢Human environmental damage | 🟠Weapons of mass destruction |
#4 | 🔴Infectious diseases | 🟢Biodiversity loss |
#5 | 🟢Biodiversity loss | 🟢Natural resource crises |
#6 | 🟣Digital power concentration | 🟢Human environmental damage |
#7 | 🟣Digital inequality | 🔴Livelihood crises |
#8 | 🟠Interstate relations fracture | 🟢Extreme weather |
#9 | 🟣Cybersecurity failure | 🔵Debt crises |
#10 | 🔴Livelihood crises | 🟣IT Infrastructure breakdown |
As for other risks, the prospect of weapons of mass destruction ranks in third place for potential impact. In the global arms race, a single misstep would trigger severe consequences on civil and political stability.
New Risks in 2021
While many of the risks included in the Global Risks Report 2021 are familiar to those who have read the editions of years past, there are a flurry of new entries to the list this year.
Here are some of the most interesting ones in the risk assessment, sorted by category:
Societal Risks
COVID-19 has resulted in a myriad of knock-on societal risks, from youth disillusionment and mental health deterioration to livelihood crises. The first two risks in particular go hand-in-hand, as “pandemials” (youth aged 15-24) are staring down a turbulent future. This generation is more likely to report high distress from disrupted educational and economic prospects.
At the same time, as countries prepare for widespread immunization against COVID-19, another related societal risk is the backlash against science. The WEF identifies vaccines and immunization as subjects susceptible to disinformation and denial of scientific evidence.
Economic Risks
As monetary stimulus was kicked into high gear to prop up markets and support many closed businesses and quarantined families, the economic outlook seems more fragile than ever. Debt-to-GDP ratios continue to rise across advanced economies—if GDP growth stagnates for too long, a potential debt crisis could see many businesses and major nations default on their debt.
With greater stress accumulating on a range of major industries such as travel and hospitality, the economy risks a build-up of “zombie” firms that drag down overall productivity. Despite this, market valuations and asset prices continue to rise, with equity markets rewarding investors betting on a swift recovery so far.
Technological Risks
Last but not least, COVID-19 has raised the alert on various technological risks. Despite the accelerated shift towards remote work and digitalization of entire industries, the reality is that digital inequality leaves those with lower digital literacy behind—worsening existing inequalities.
Big Tech is also bloating even further, growing its digital power concentration. The market share some companies hold in their respective sectors, such as Amazon in online retail, threatens to erode the agency of other players.
Assessing the Top 10 Risks On the Horizon
Back in mid-2020, the WEF attempted to quantify the biggest risks over an 18-month period, with a prolonged economic recession emerging on top.
In this report’s risk assessment, global risks are further classified by how soon their resulting threats are expected to occur. Weapons of mass destruction remain the top risk, though on a much longer scale of up to 10 years in the future.
Rank | Risk | % | Time Horizon |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | 🟠Weapons of mass destruction | 62.7 | Long-term (5-10 years) |
#2 | 🔴Infectious diseases | 58 | Short-term risks (0-2 years) |
#3 | 🔴Livelihood crises | 55.1 | Short-term risks (0-2 years) |
#4 | 🔵Asset bubble burst | 53.3 | Medium-term risks (3-5 years) |
#5 | 🟣 IT infrastructure breakdown | 53.3 | Medium-term risks (3-5 years) |
#6 | 🔵Price instability | 52.9 | Medium-term risks (3-5 years) |
#7 | 🟢Extreme weather events | 52.7 | Short-term risks (0-2 years) |
#8 | 🔵Commodity shocks | 52.7 | Medium-term risks (3-5 years) |
#9 | 🔵Debt crises | 52.3 | Medium-term risks (3-5 years) |
#10 | 🟠State collapse | 51.8 | Long-term (5-10 years) |
Through this perspective, COVID-19 (and its variants) remains high in the next two years as the world scrambles to return to normal.
It’s also clear that more economic risks are taking center stage, from an asset bubble burst to price instability that could have a profound effect over the next five years.
Green
Visualizing Countries by Share of Earth’s Surface
There are 510 million km² of area on the Earth, but less than 30% of this is land. Here’s the share countries make up of the Earth’s surface.
Published
4 days agoon
January 23, 2021
Visualizing Countries by Share of Earth’s Surface
There are over 510 million square kilometers of area on the surface of Earth, but less than 30% of this is covered by land. The rest is water, in the form of vast oceans.
Today’s visualization uses data primarily from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) to rank the world’s countries by their share of Earth’s surface.
Breakdown of Countries Share of Earth’s Surface
The largest countries by surface area are Russia (3.35%), Canada (1.96%), and China (1.88%).
Together they occupy roughly 7.2% of Earth’s surface. Russia is so big that even if we divided the country between its Asian and European sections, those new regions would still be the largest in their respective continents.
Country / Dependency | Total in km² (mi²) | Percentage of Earth's Surface |
---|---|---|
Russia | 17,098,246 (6,601,670) | 3.352% |
Antarctica | 14,000,000 (5,400,000) | 2.745% |
Canada | 9,984,670 (3,855,100) | 1.958% |
China | 9,596,961 (3,705,407) | 1.881% |
United States | 9,525,067 (3,677,649) | 1.867% |
Brazil | 8,515,767 (3,287,956) | 1.670% |
Australia | 7,692,024 (2,969,907) | 1.508% |
India | 3,287,263 (1,269,219) | 0.644% |
Argentina | 2,780,400 (1,073,500) | 0.545% |
Kazakhstan | 2,724,900 (1,052,100) | 0.534% |
Algeria | 2,381,741 (919,595) | 0.467% |
D.R. Congo | 2,344,858 (905,355) | 0.460% |
Greenland (Denmark) | 2,166,086 (836,330) | 0.425% |
Saudi Arabia | 2,149,690 (830,000) | 0.421% |
Mexico | 1,964,375 (758,449) | 0.385% |
Indonesia | 1,910,931 (737,815) | 0.375% |
Sudan | 1,861,484 (718,723) | 0.365% |
Libya | 1,759,540 (679,360) | 0.345% |
Iran | 1,648,195 (636,372) | 0.323% |
Mongolia | 1,564,110 (603,910) | 0.307% |
Peru | 1,285,216 (496,225) | 0.252% |
Chad | 1,284,000 (496,000) | 0.252% |
Niger | 1,267,000 (489,000) | 0.248% |
Angola | 1,246,700 (481,400) | 0.244% |
Mali | 1,240,192 (478,841) | 0.243% |
South Africa | 1,221,037 (471,445) | 0.239% |
Colombia | 1,141,748 (440,831) | 0.224% |
Ethiopia | 1,104,300 (426,400) | 0.216% |
Bolivia | 1,098,581 (424,164) | 0.215% |
Mauritania | 1,030,700 (398,000) | 0.202% |
Egypt | 1,002,450 (387,050) | 0.197% |
Tanzania | 945,087 (364,900) | 0.185% |
Nigeria | 923,768 (356,669) | 0.181% |
Venezuela | 916,445 (353,841) | 0.180% |
Pakistan | 907,843 (350,520) | 0.178% |
Namibia | 825,615 (318,772) | 0.162% |
Mozambique | 801,590 (309,500) | 0.157% |
Turkey | 783,562 (302,535) | 0.154% |
Chile | 756,102 (291,933) | 0.148% |
Zambia | 752,612 (290,585) | 0.148% |
Myanmar | 676,578 (261,228) | 0.133% |
Afghanistan | 652,230 (251,830) | 0.128% |
South Sudan | 644,329 (248,777) | 0.126% |
Somalia | 637,657 (246,201) | 0.125% |
Central African Republic | 622,984 (240,535) | 0.122% |
Ukraine | 603,500 (233,000) | 0.118% |
Madagascar | 587,041 (226,658) | 0.115% |
Botswana | 581,730 (224,610) | 0.114% |
Kenya | 580,367 (224,081) | 0.114% |
France | 543,940 (210,020) | 0.107% |
Yemen | 527,968 (203,850) | 0.104% |
Thailand | 513,120 (198,120) | 0.101% |
Spain | 505,992 (195,365) | 0.099% |
Turkmenistan | 488,100 (188,500) | 0.096% |
Cameroon | 475,442 (183,569) | 0.093% |
Papua New Guinea | 462,840 (178,700) | 0.091% |
Sweden | 450,295 (173,860) | 0.088% |
Uzbekistan | 447,400 (172,700) | 0.088% |
Morocco | 446,550 (172,410) | 0.088% |
Iraq | 438,317 (169,235) | 0.086% |
Paraguay | 406,752 (157,048) | 0.080% |
Zimbabwe | 390,757 (150,872) | 0.077% |
Norway | 385,207 (148,729) | 0.076% |
Japan | 377,976 (145,937) | 0.074% |
Germany | 357,114 (137,882) | 0.070% |
Republic of the Congo | 342,000 (132,000) | 0.067% |
Finland | 338,424 (130,666) | 0.066% |
Vietnam | 331,212 (127,882) | 0.065% |
Malaysia | 330,803 (127,724) | 0.065% |
Ivory Coast | 322,463 (124,504) | 0.063% |
Poland | 312,696 (120,733) | 0.061% |
Oman | 309,500 (119,500) | 0.061% |
Italy | 301,339 (116,348) | 0.059% |
Philippines | 300,000 (120,000) | 0.059% |
Ecuador | 276,841 (106,889) | 0.054% |
Burkina Faso | 274,222 (105,878) | 0.054% |
New Zealand | 270,467 (104,428) | 0.053% |
Gabon | 267,668 (103,347) | 0.052% |
Guinea | 245,857 (94,926) | 0.048% |
United Kingdom | 242,495 (93,628) | 0.048% |
Uganda | 241,550 (93,260) | 0.047% |
Ghana | 238,533 (92,098) | 0.047% |
Romania | 238,397 (92,046) | 0.047% |
Laos | 236,800 (91,400) | 0.046% |
Guyana | 214,969 (83,000) | 0.042% |
Belarus | 207,600 (80,200) | 0.041% |
Kyrgyzstan | 199,951 (77,202) | 0.039% |
Senegal | 196,722 (75,955) | 0.039% |
Syria | 185,180 (71,500) | 0.036% |
Cambodia | 181,035 (69,898) | 0.035% |
Uruguay | 176,215 (68,037) | 0.035% |
Somaliland | 176,120 (68,000) | 0.035% |
Suriname | 163,820 (63,250) | 0.032% |
Tunisia | 163,610 (63,170) | 0.032% |
Bangladesh | 148,460 (57,320) | 0.029% |
Nepal | 147,181 (56,827) | 0.029% |
Tajikistan | 143,100 (55,300) | 0.028% |
Greece | 131,957 (50,949) | 0.026% |
Nicaragua | 130,373 (50,337) | 0.026% |
North Korea | 120,540 (46,540) | 0.024% |
Malawi | 118,484 (45,747) | 0.023% |
Eritrea | 117,600 (45,400) | 0.023% |
Benin | 114,763 (44,310) | 0.022% |
Honduras | 112,492 (43,433) | 0.022% |
Liberia | 111,369 (43,000) | 0.022% |
Bulgaria | 111,002 (42,858) | 0.022% |
Cuba | 109,884 (42,426) | 0.022% |
Guatemala | 108,889 (42,042) | 0.021% |
Iceland | 103,000 (40,000) | 0.020% |
South Korea | 100,210 (38,690) | 0.020% |
Hungary | 93,028 (35,918) | 0.018% |
Portugal | 92,226 (35,609) | 0.018% |
Jordan | 89,342 (34,495) | 0.018% |
Serbia | 88,361 (34,116) | 0.017% |
Azerbaijan | 86,600 (33,400) | 0.017% |
Austria | 83,871 (32,383) | 0.016% |
United Arab Emirates | 83,600 (32,300) | 0.016% |
Czech Republic | 78,865 (30,450) | 0.015% |
Panama | 75,417 (29,119) | 0.015% |
Sierra Leone | 71,740 (27,700) | 0.014% |
Ireland | 70,273 (27,133) | 0.014% |
Georgia | 69,700 (26,900) | 0.014% |
Sri Lanka | 65,610 (25,330) | 0.013% |
Lithuania | 65,300 (25,200) | 0.013% |
Latvia | 64,559 (24,926) | 0.013% |
Togo | 56,785 (21,925) | 0.011% |
Croatia | 56,594 (21,851) | 0.011% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 51,209 (19,772) | 0.010% |
Costa Rica | 51,100 (19,700) | 0.010% |
Slovakia | 49,037 (18,933) | 0.010% |
Dominican Republic | 48,671 (18,792) | 0.010% |
Estonia | 45,227 (17,462) | 0.009% |
Denmark | 43,094 (16,639) | 0.008% |
Netherlands | 41,850 (16,160) | 0.008% |
Switzerland | 41,284 (15,940) | 0.008% |
Bhutan | 38,394 (14,824) | 0.008% |
Taiwan | 36,193 (13,974) | 0.007% |
Guinea-Bissau | 36,125 (13,948) | 0.007% |
Moldova | 33,846 (13,068) | 0.007% |
Belgium | 30,528 (11,787) | 0.006% |
Lesotho | 30,355 (11,720) | 0.006% |
Armenia | 29,743 (11,484) | 0.006% |
Solomon Islands | 28,896 (11,157) | 0.006% |
Albania | 28,748 (11,100) | 0.006% |
Equatorial Guinea | 28,051 (10,831) | 0.005% |
Burundi | 27,834 (10,747) | 0.005% |
Haiti | 27,750 (10,710) | 0.005% |
Rwanda | 26,338 (10,169) | 0.005% |
North Macedonia | 25,713 (9,928) | 0.005% |
Djibouti | 23,200 (9,000) | 0.005% |
Belize | 22,966 (8,867) | 0.005% |
El Salvador | 21,041 (8,124) | 0.004% |
Israel | 20,770 (8,020) | 0.004% |
Slovenia | 20,273 (7,827) | 0.004% |
Fiji | 18,272 (7,055) | 0.004% |
Kuwait | 17,818 (6,880) | 0.003% |
Eswatini | 17,364 (6,704) | 0.003% |
East Timor | 14,919 (5,760) | 0.003% |
The Bahamas | 13,943 (5,383) | 0.003% |
Montenegro | 13,812 (5,333) | 0.003% |
Vanuatu | 12,189 (4,706) | 0.002% |
Qatar | 11,586 (4,473) | 0.002% |
The Gambia | 11,295 (4,361) | 0.002% |
Jamaica | 10,991 (4,244) | 0.002% |
Kosovo | 10,887 (4,203) | 0.002% |
Lebanon | 10,452 (4,036) | 0.002% |
Cyprus | 9,251 (3,572) | 0.002% |
State of Palestine | 6,020 (2,320) | 0.001% |
Brunei | 5,765 (2,226) | 0.001% |
Trinidad and Tobago | 5,130 (1,980) | 0.001% |
Cape Verde | 4,033 (1,557) | 0.001% |
Samoa | 2,842 (1,097) | 0.001% |
Luxembourg | 2,586 (998) | 0.001% |
Mauritius | 2,040 (790) | 0.000% |
Comoros | 1,862 (719) | 0.000% |
São Tomé and Príncipe | 964 (372) | 0.000% |
Kiribati | 811 (313) | 0.000% |
Bahrain | 778 (300) | 0.000% |
Dominica | 751 (290) | 0.000% |
Tonga | 747 (288) | 0.000% |
Singapore | 728 (281) | 0.000% |
Federated States of Micronesia | 702 (271) | 0.000% |
Saint Lucia | 616 (238) | 0.000% |
Andorra | 468 (181) | 0.000% |
Palau | 459 (177) | 0.000% |
Seychelles | 452 (175) | 0.000% |
Antigua and Barbuda | 442 (171) | 0.000% |
Barbados | 430 (170) | 0.000% |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 389 (150) | 0.000% |
Grenada | 344 (133) | 0.000% |
Malta | 316 (122) | 0.000% |
Maldives | 300 (120) | 0.000% |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 261 (101) | 0.000% |
Marshall Islands | 181 (70) | 0.000% |
Liechtenstein | 160 (62) | 0.000% |
San Marino | 61 (24) | 0.000% |
Tuvalu | 26 (10) | 0.000% |
Nauru | 21 (8.1) | 0.000% |
Monaco | 2.02 (0.78) | 0.000% |
Vatican City | 0.49 (0.19) | 0.000% |
Antarctica, although not a country, covers the second largest amount of land overall at 2.75%. Meanwhile, the other nations that surpass the 1% mark for surface area include the United States (1.87%), Brazil (1.67%), and Australia (1.51%).
The remaining 195 countries and regions below 1%, combined, account for the other half of Earth’s land surface. Among the world’s smallest countries are the island nations of the Caribbean and the South Pacific Ocean. However, the tiniest of the tiny are Vatican City and Monaco, which combine for a total area of just 2.51 km².
The remaining 70% of Earth’s surface is water: 27% territorial waters and 43% international waters or areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
In the past, nations adhered to the freedom-of-the-seas doctrine, a 17th century principle that limited jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow area along a nation’s coastline. The rest of the seas did not belong to any nation and were free for countries to travel and exploit.
This situation lasted into the 20th century, but by mid-century there was an effort to extend national claims as competition for offshore resources became increasingly fierce and ocean pollution became an issue.
In 1982, the United Nations adopted the Law of the Sea Convention which extended international law over the extra-territorial waters. The convention established freedom-of-navigation rights and set territorial sea boundaries 12 miles (19 km) offshore with exclusive economic zones up to 200 miles (322 km) offshore, extending a country’s influence over maritime resources.
Does Size Matter?
The size of countries is the outcome of politics, economics, history, and geography. Put simply, borders can change over time.
In 1946, there were 76 independent countries in the world, and today there are 195. There are forces that push together or pull apart landscapes over time. While physical geography plays a role in the identity of nations, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former ruler of UAE, a tiny Gulf nation, put it best:
“A country is not measured by the size of its area on the map. A country is truly measured by its heritage and culture.”
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