World Language Map

Languages spoken in Cambodia

25 living languages are mapped in Cambodia. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Central Khmer (89% of the population). They belong to 3 language families, the largest being Austroasiatic (18 languages).

Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

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 Cambodia at a glance

  • 25living languages
  • 3language families
  • 17.1 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 3with a CLDR share

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

Languages spoken in Cambodia

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
Central KhmerAustroasiatic89%15,186,693Not endangered
Western ChamAustronesian1.6%273,019Threatened
KuyAustroasiatic0.1%18,770Moribund
BraoAustroasiaticThreatened
Budeh StiengAustroasiaticMoribund
Bulo StiengAustroasiaticShifting
Central MnongAustroasiaticThreatened
Chong of ChanthaburiAustroasiaticMoribund
Eastern ChamAustronesianThreatened
JaraiAustronesianNot endangered
JehaiAustroasiaticShifting
Kaco'AustroasiaticThreatened
KraolAustroasiaticThreatened
LaoTai-KadaiNot endangered
Mel-KhaonhAustroasiaticThreatened
Northeastern ThaiTai-KadaiNot endangered
Northern KhmerAustroasiaticNot endangered
PearAustroasiaticMoribund
RadeAustronesianNot endangered
Sa'ochAustroasiaticShifting
Somray of Battambang-Somre of Siem ReapAustroasiaticNearly extinct
SouAustroasiaticShifting
SuoyAustroasiaticShifting
TampuanAustroasiaticMoribund
ThaiTai-KadaiNot endangered

Read more: where is Central Khmer spoken?

Language families in Cambodia

About these numbers

The list of languages in Cambodia 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 Cambodia

How many languages are spoken in Cambodia?

25 living languages are mapped in Cambodia, from 3 families. 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 Cambodia?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Central Khmer is spoken by 89% of the population, about 15,186,693 people, followed by Western Cham (1.6%). 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 Cambodia?

Austroasiatic (18 languages), Austronesian (4 languages) and Tai-Kadai (3 languages).

Embed this map

Copy this code into your web page. It is free to use. Please keep the link under the map, as it is how people find where the map comes from.