Ethnologue is an annual reference catalogue of the world's living languages, published by SIL Global. Much of it now sits behind a paywall. Some speaker figures on this map cite Ethnologue, but its classification and counts are not the map's main source.
Key takeaways
- Ethnologue is a reference catalogue of living languages published by SIL Global, in print and online.
- Most of its content is paid, so the map uses it only for some speaker figures.
- For example, Irish cites Ethnologue for about 141,000 first-language speakers (Ethnologue, 2019).
- The map's classification and status come from Glottolog, not Ethnologue.
How Ethnologue works
Ethnologue is an annual reference publication, in print and online, that catalogues the world's living languages [1]. It is published by SIL Global, a Christian linguistic service organisation, and has been described as the most comprehensive catalogue of its kind [1].
It is also a paid product. Ethnologue introduced a hard paywall in 2019, so most of its content now needs a subscription, though people in low- and middle-income countries can get free access [1]. That affects how others can use it: a website can cite an Ethnologue figure, but cannot republish the catalogue.
Ethnologue and the language codes are closely linked. Its codes were the basis of the ISO 639-3 standard, and since 2007 Ethnologue decides what counts as a language by relying on that standard [1]. SIL is the registration authority for the standard [2], but the standard is now administered separately from Ethnologue [1]. See ISO 639-3 codes.
Different catalogues also draw boundaries differently. Ethnologue treats Twi and Fante as dialects of Akan because they are mutually intelligible, while ISO 639-3 treats Akan as a macrolanguage containing them as separate languages [1].
An example from our data
Ethnologue shows up on the map as a source of speaker figures, not as its classification. Irish is shown with about 141,000 first-language speakers (Ethnologue, 2019). Scottish Gaelic has about 60,000 speakers (Ethnologue, 2011). Both figures are approximate, and sources differ in their year and method.
The map's language list, families and endangerment statuses come from Glottolog instead, which built its endangerment ratings from several sources, with Ethnologue among them [3]. The data sources page lists every dataset, and the facts page explains how the numbers fit together.
The thing people get wrong
People often assume Ethnologue is the single official count of the world's languages. It is one catalogue among several, with its own rules for what counts as a language, and its total is different from Glottolog's. We do not quote Ethnologue's own totals here for that reason, and because most of them sit behind its paywall.
Another mistake is to treat a cited Ethnologue speaker number as a precise census. Such figures vary hugely by source, and some are first-language only. Where a language page shows one, the source and year are given beside it. See how many languages are there for how counts differ.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ethnologue free to use?
Not fully. It has had a paywall since 2019, with free access for users in low- and middle-income countries.
Does this map use Ethnologue?
Only in part. Some speaker figures cite it as their source, while the map's language list, families and statuses come from Glottolog.
Sources
- Ethnologue, Wikipedia.
- ISO 639-3, SIL International (registration authority).
- Glottolog: language status, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- Every figure from our own map is worked out from the datasets on the data sources page (checked against Glottolog and Glottography, retrieved 13 October 2026).