World Language Map

Languages spoken in Bolivia

48 living languages are mapped in Bolivia. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Spanish (61% of the population). They belong to 13 language families, the largest being Tupian (10 languages). 4 are language isolates, with no known relatives.

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The filter only changes what is drawn. Tap the map to list every language at a spot, whichever family is shown. You can also pick any family from its own page.

Key

Language families (largest ten)

  • Atlantic-Congo
  • Austronesian
  • Sino-Tibetan
  • Indo-European
  • Afro-Asiatic
  • Nuclear Trans New Guinea
  • Otomanguean
  • Austroasiatic
  • Tai-Kadai
  • Pama-Nyungan

Everything else

  • All other families Smaller families, isolates and unclassified languages.
  • Point A language with no area map. The dot sits at its Glottolog position, in its family colour.

How to read the map. Each colour is a language family: a group of languages that share a common ancestor. The ten largest families have their own colour and every other family is grey. Areas are see-through, so where two languages share a place the colours mix. Tap anywhere to list every language whose area covers that spot. Areas are generalisations drawn from published atlases, many of them decades old, and cities are multilingual, so an area never says that everyone there speaks the language. A dot marks a language that has no area map. The family name is always given in words, because colour alone is hard to tell apart for some people.

Languages of Bolivia at a glance

  • 48living languages
  • 13language families
  • 12.3 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 4with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Bolivia. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

The 40 most widely spoken languages in Bolivia

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

LanguageFamilyShare of populationEstimated speakersStatus
SpanishIndo-European61%7,510,320Not endangered
Cusco QuechuaQuechuan32%3,939,840Threatened
Central AymaraAymaran20%2,462,400Threatened
Paraguayan GuaraníTupian0.5%55,404Not endangered
AraonaPano-TacananShifting
AyoreoZamucoanShifting
BaureArawakanNearly extinct
CavineñaPano-TacananShifting
ChamacocoZamucoanShifting
ChipayaUru-ChipayaShifting
ChácoboPano-TacananThreatened
DjeoromitxíNuclear-Macro-JeMoribund
Eastern Bolivian GuaraníTupianThreatened
Ese EjjaPano-TacananThreatened
Forest ChoroteMataguayanShifting
GuarayuTupianShifting
GüisnayMataguayanThreatened
IgnacianoArawakanShifting
IteneChapacuranMoribund
KanoêIsolateNearly extinct
Lomeriano-Ignaciano ChiquitanoChiquitanoShifting
MachinereArawakanShifting
MekensTupianNearly extinct
Migueleño ChiquitanoChiquitanoNearly extinct
Mosetén-ChimanéIsolateThreatened
MovimaIsolateShifting
NivacléMataguayanShifting
North Bolivian QuechuaQuechuanNot endangered
PacahuaraPano-TacananNearly extinct
PaunakaArawakanNearly extinct
PortugueseIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
ReyesanoPano-TacananNearly extinct
SirionóTupianNearly extinct
South Bolivian QuechuaQuechuanNot endangered
Southern AymaraAymaranNot endangered
TacanaPano-TacananShifting
TapietéTupianShifting
TobaGuaicuruanThreatened
Trinitario-Javeriano-LoretanoArawakanShifting
VejozMataguayanThreatened

Read more: where is Spanish spoken?

Language families in Bolivia

All 48 languages in Bolivia, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Bolivia comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Bolivia

How many languages are spoken in Bolivia?

48 living languages are mapped in Bolivia, from 13 families, plus 4 language isolates. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Bolivia?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Spanish is spoken by 61% of the population, about 7,510,320 people, followed by Cusco Quechua (32%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Bolivia?

Tupian (10 languages), Pano-Tacanan (8 languages), Arawakan (5 languages), Mataguayan (5 languages) and Quechuan (3 languages), and 8 more.

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