World Language Map

Languages spoken in Laos

95 living languages are mapped in Laos. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Lao (69% of the population). They belong to 4 language families, the largest being Austroasiatic (52 languages).

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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 Laos at a glance

  • 95living languages
  • 4language families
  • 8 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 5with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Laos. 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 Laos

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
LaoTai-Kadai69%5,487,956Not endangered
KhmuAustroasiatic5.8%461,306Not endangered
Hmong NjuaHmong-Mien3%238,607Not endangered
Hmong DawHmong-Mien2.3%182,932Not endangered
KuyAustroasiatic1%76,354Moribund
AkeuSino-TibetanShifting
AkhaSino-TibetanNot endangered
AlakAustroasiaticNot endangered
AremAustroasiaticNearly extinct
BantangSino-Tibetan
BisuSino-TibetanShifting
BitAustroasiaticMoribund
BiyoSino-TibetanNot endangered
BraoAustroasiaticThreatened
Cao LanTai-KadaiNot endangered
CauhoSino-Tibetan
Central KhmerAustroasiaticNot endangered
ChepyaSino-TibetanShifting
ChutAustroasiaticShifting
CosaoSino-TibetanShifting
CôôngSino-TibetanMoribund
Eastern BruAustroasiaticThreatened
Eastern KatuAustroasiaticNot endangered
HalangAustroasiaticThreatened
Halang DoanAustroasiaticThreatened
HaniSino-TibetanNot endangered
HungAustroasiaticShifting
Iu MienHmong-MienNot endangered
JehAustroasiaticNot endangered
JehaiAustroasiaticShifting
KaduoSino-TibetanThreatened
KhuenAustroasiaticNot endangered
KhünTai-KadaiNot endangered
Kim MunHmong-MienNot endangered
Kriang-KhlorAustroasiaticShifting
KsingmulAustroasiaticNot endangered
KuanTai-KadaiThreatened
LahuSino-TibetanNot endangered
Lahu ShiSino-TibetanNot endangered
LametAustroasiaticNot endangered

Read more: where is Lao spoken?

Language families in Laos

All 95 languages in Laos, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Laos 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 Laos

How many languages are spoken in Laos?

95 living languages are mapped in Laos, from 4 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 Laos?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Lao is spoken by 69% of the population, about 5,487,956 people, followed by Khmu (5.8%). 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 Laos?

Austroasiatic (52 languages), Tai-Kadai (21 languages), Sino-Tibetan (18 languages) and Hmong-Mien (4 languages).

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