World Language Map

Languages spoken in Venezuela

43 living languages are mapped in Venezuela. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Spanish (82% of the population). They belong to 10 language families, the largest being Cariban (10 languages). 5 are language isolates, with no known relatives.

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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 Venezuela at a glance

  • 43living languages
  • 10language families
  • 31.3 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 1with a CLDR share

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

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-European82%25,625,246Not endangered
Akawaio-IngarikoCaribanThreatened
ArutaniIsolateNearly extinct
Baniva de MaroaArawakanShifting
Baniwa do IcanaArawakanShifting
BaríChibchanThreatened
Central TuneboChibchanShifting
Colombian IngaQuechuanShifting
Colonia Tovar GermanIndo-EuropeanShifting
CubeoTucanoanShifting
CuibaGuahiboanShifting
CurripacoArawakanThreatened
EnglishIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
Galibi CaribCaribanShifting
HotiIsolateShifting
JapreríaCaribanMoribund
LokonoArawakanMoribund
MacoSalibanThreatened
MacushiCaribanShifting
MapoyoCaribanNearly extinct
NhengatuTupianShifting
NinamYanomamicThreatened
PanareCaribanThreatened
ParaujanoArawakanNearly extinct
PemonCaribanThreatened
PiapocoArawakanShifting
PiaroaSalibanThreatened
PlayeroGuahiboanShifting
PortugueseIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
PuinaveIsolateShifting
PuméIsolateShifting
SanumáYanomamicShifting
SikuaniGuahiboanThreatened
SálibaSalibanNearly extinct
TatuyoTucanoanShifting
WaraoIsolateThreatened
Warekena do San MiguelArawakanMoribund
WayuuArawakanThreatened
YabaranaCaribanNearly extinct
YanomamöYanomamicThreatened

Read more: where is Spanish spoken?

Language families in Venezuela

All 43 languages in Venezuela, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Venezuela 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 Venezuela

How many languages are spoken in Venezuela?

43 living languages are mapped in Venezuela, from 10 families, plus 5 language isolates. 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 Venezuela?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Spanish is spoken by 82% of the population, about 25,625,246 people. 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 Venezuela?

Cariban (10 languages), Arawakan (8 languages), Indo-European (4 languages), Yanomamic (4 languages) and Guahiboan (3 languages), and 5 more.

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