World Language Map

Languages spoken in Mexico

283 living languages are mapped in Mexico. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Spanish (83% of the population). They belong to 11 language families, the largest being Otomanguean (175 languages). One is a language isolate, with no known relatives.

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 Mexico at a glance

  • 283living languages
  • 11language families
  • 130.7 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 7with a CLDR share

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

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-European83%108,514,200Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European13%16,996,200Not endangered
Yucatec MayaMayan0.7%875,958Not endangered
Eastern Huasteca NahuatlUto-Aztecan0.4%509,886Threatened
Western Huasteca NahuatlUto-Aztecan0.4%509,886Not endangered
Central MazahuaOtomanguean0.3%444,516Shifting
Central Huasteca NahuatlUto-Aztecan0.2%248,406Threatened
Acatepec Me'phaaOtomangueanNot endangered
Afro-Seminole CreoleIndo-EuropeanMoribund
AkatekoMayanShifting
Alacatlatzala MixtecOtomangueanThreatened
Alcozauca MixtecOtomangueanThreatened
Aloápam ZapotecOtomangueanNot endangered
Amatlán ZapotecOtomanguean
Amoltepec MixtecOtomangueanThreatened
Apasco-Apoala MixtecOtomangueanShifting
Asunción Mixtepec ZapotecOtomangueanMoribund
Atatláhuca MixtecOtomangueanThreatened
Atzingo MatlatzincaOtomangueanShifting
Ayautla MazatecOtomangueanThreatened
Ayoquesco ZapotecOtomangueanShifting
Ayutla MixtecOtomangueanThreatened
Azoyú Me'phaaOtomangueanNot endangered
Cacaloxtepec MixtecOtomangueanShifting
Cajonos ZapotecOtomangueanNot endangered
Central Guerrero NahuatlUto-AztecanNot endangered
Central PameOtomangueanThreatened
Central Puebla NahuatlUto-AztecanThreatened
Central TarahumaraUto-AztecanThreatened
Central-South Chiapas ZoqueMixe-ZoqueShifting
Chayuco MixtecOtomangueanThreatened
Chazumba MixtecOtomangueanShifting
Chicahuaxtla TriquiOtomangueanThreatened
Chichicapan ZapotecOtomanguean
Chichimeca-JonazOtomangueanShifting
Chigmecatitlán MixtecOtomangueanShifting
Chiltepec ChinantecOtomangueanThreatened
Chimalapa ZoqueMixe-ZoqueShifting
Chiquihuitlán MazatecOtomangueanShifting
Choapan ZapotecOtomangueanShifting

Read more: where is Spanish spoken?

Language families in Mexico

All 283 languages in Mexico, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Mexico 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 Mexico

How many languages are spoken in Mexico?

283 living languages are mapped in Mexico, from 11 families, plus 1 language isolate. 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 Mexico?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Spanish is spoken by 83% of the population, about 108,514,200 people, followed by English (13%). 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 Mexico?

Otomanguean (175 languages), Uto-Aztecan (43 languages), Mixe-Zoque (18 languages), Mayan (16 languages) and Totonacan (13 languages), and 6 more.

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.