World Language Map

Languages spoken in the Netherlands

24 living languages are mapped in the Netherlands. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Dutch (100% of the population). They belong to 4 language families, the largest being Indo-European (20 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 the Netherlands at a glance

  • 24living languages
  • 4language families
  • 17.8 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 12with a CLDR share

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

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
DutchIndo-European100%17,772,400Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European90%15,995,160Not endangered
GermanIndo-European71%12,618,404Not endangered
FrenchIndo-European19%3,376,756Not endangered
Eastern Low GermanIndo-European11%1,954,964Threatened
LimburganIndo-European5.5%977,482Threatened
Western FrisianIndo-European4.3%764,213Not endangered
GroningsIndo-European3.6%639,806Threatened
Standard IndonesianAustronesian1.8%319,903Not endangered
ZeeuwsIndo-European1.4%248,814Threatened
Tarifiyt-Beni-Iznasen-Eastern Middle Atlas BerberAfro-Asiatic1.2%213,269Not endangered
TurkishTurkic1.2%213,269Not endangered
Balkan RomaniIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Caribbean HindustaniIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Central RomaniIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Hindeloopen-Molkwerum FrisianIndo-EuropeanMoribund
PapiamentoIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Schiermonnikoog FrisianIndo-EuropeanNearly extinct
Sinte-Manus RomaniIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Sranan TongoIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Terschelling FrisianIndo-EuropeanNearly extinct
Vlax RomaniIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Western FlemishIndo-EuropeanThreatened
YenicheunclassifiedShifting

Read more: where is Dutch spoken?

Language families in the Netherlands

About these numbers

The list of languages in the Netherlands 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 the Netherlands

How many languages are spoken in the Netherlands?

24 living languages are mapped in the Netherlands, 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 the Netherlands?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Dutch is spoken by 100% of the population, about 17,772,400 people, followed by English (90%). 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 the Netherlands?

Indo-European (20 languages), Austronesian (1 language), Afro-Asiatic (1 language) and Turkic (1 language).

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.