World Language Map

Languages spoken in Vanuatu

117 living languages are mapped in Vanuatu. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Bislama (90% of the population). They belong to 2 language families, the largest being Austronesian (114 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 Vanuatu at a glance

  • 117living languages
  • 2language families
  • 318,000people (CLDR estimate)
  • 3with a CLDR share

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

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
BislamaIndo-European90%286,206Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European83%263,946Not endangered
FrenchIndo-European31%98,582Not endangered
AkeiAustronesianNot endangered
AleAustronesianShifting
AmblongAustronesianShifting
AndeAustronesianShifting
AneityumAustronesianShifting
ApmaAustronesianNot endangered
ArakiAustronesianNearly extinct
AuluaAustronesianShifting
AvavaAustronesianThreatened
AvokAustronesianShifting
AxambAustronesianShifting
BaetoraAustronesianNot endangered
BakiAustronesianShifting
BiereboAustronesianShifting
BieriaAustronesianMoribund
Big NambasAustronesianNot endangered
BurmbarAustronesianShifting
BwenelangAustronesianNearly extinct
Central MaewoAustronesianThreatened
DaakieAustronesianNot endangered
DakakaAustronesianNot endangered
DalkalaenAustronesianNot endangered
Dixon ReefAustronesianMoribund
DorigAustronesianShifting
East AmbaeAustronesianNot endangered
EmaeAustronesianShifting
Eton (Vanuatu)AustronesianShifting
FarafiAustronesianShifting
Futuna-AniwaAustronesianNot endangered
HanoAustronesianNot endangered
HiwAustronesianShifting
KiaiAustronesianShifting
Koro-OlratAustronesianShifting
Kula (Vanuatu)AustronesianShifting
KwameraAustronesianThreatened
LakonAustronesianShifting
LamenuAustronesianShifting

Read more: where is Bislama spoken?

Language families in Vanuatu

All 117 languages in Vanuatu, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Vanuatu 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 Vanuatu

How many languages are spoken in Vanuatu?

117 living languages are mapped in Vanuatu, from 2 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 Vanuatu?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Bislama is spoken by 90% of the population, about 286,206 people, followed by English (83%). 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 Vanuatu?

Austronesian (114 languages) and Indo-European (3 languages).

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