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Published: 06-04-2022
South America is a continent full of diverse cultures and languages. In fact, the continent is home to 455 living languages. South America is one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world with 37 language families, 455 languages of which over 70 are unclassified. Indigenous languages are used throughout the entire continent. They are spoken by over 11 million people alongside Spanish and Portuguese. We will look at the most common languages spoken in South America, including both introduced languages and indigenous languages.
Portuguese is spoken mainly in Brazil
What are the official languages of South America?
In Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, people speak primarily Spanish. Portuguese is spoken mainly in Brazil. English is the official language of Guyana; however, many other languages are spoken there as well.
Spanish, the widest spoken
The Most Spoken INTRODUCED Languages in South America
Spanish
Though it is close competition, Spanish is the most spoken language in South America, beating Portuguese by a few million people. Nearly 210 million South Americans speak Spanish, with the largest number of Spanish speakers living in Colombia, 47.2 million. Close behind is Argentina with 43.5 million speakers, followed by Venezuela (31.1 million), Peru (27.4 million), Chile (18.1 million), Ecuador (15.9 million), Bolivia (9.4 million), Paraguay (4.6 million), Uruguay (3.4 million), Brazil (491,000) and Trinidad and Tobago (70,000).
Spanish will get you a long way
Portuguese
Coming in at a close second is Portuguese, with around 206 million speakers in South America. Brazil is home to the majority of those Portuguese speakers of course, with over 205 million and is the only country in South America where Portuguese is the official language. There are also contingents of Portuguese speakers in Venezuela with officially 254,000 Portuguese speakers, Paraguay 212,000 and Uruguay with 24,000 people.
Portuguese
English
Surprisingly, English is the third most spoken language in South America, with about 5.4 million English speakers. The majority of them live in Argentina with 2.8 million English speakers and Colombia with 1.9 million. The majority of the population of the Falkland Islands, which are officially a British territory of the United Kingdom, speak English as well, but there are very few people in fact 2,600 English speakers living there.
English!
German
Taking the fourth place is actually German with Just over 2 million German speakers living in South America. The majority live in Brazil with 1.5 million, but others live in Argentina (400,000), Ecuador (112,000), Paraguay (58,000), Uruguay (27,000) and Chile (20,000).
German
Italian
The fifth most spoken language in South America is Italian, with 1.5 million speakers. Almost all of them live in Argentina, but there is a small Italian speaking community found in Brazil, of 50,000 people.
Italian
South American Languages are Diverse
The diversity of languages in South America is actually mind-blowing. It is not just Spanish that you will hear while travelling the continent that for sure, with many indigenous languages still widely spoken. So, if you are planning a trip to South America, get ready for a totally linguistic adventure.
Quechua speakers
Indigenous languages
The most Spoken Indigenous languages that can be encountered In South America are ranked as follows: Quechua from The Andean region has 8 million speakers. Guarani from Paraguay has 5 million speakers. Aymara in Peru and Bolivia has 2.5 million speakers. Mapudungun: 500,000 speakers. Guajiro: 200,000 speakers. Embera is spoken in Colombia and has 70,000 speakers, Paez: 60,000 speakers. Ashaninka: 50,000 speakers. So just when you are thinking that the Spanish classes will help you on your travels, think again!
