Language statistics & facts
- Number of living languages: 6912
- Number of those languages that are nearly extinct: 516
- Language with the greatest number of native speakers: Mandarin Chinese
- Language spoken by the greatest number of non-native speakers: English (250 million to 350 million non-native speakers)
- Country with the most languages spoken: Papua New Guinea has 820 living languages. [See Top 20 countries]
- How long have languages existed: Since about 100,000 BC
- First language ever written: Sumerian or Egyptian (about 3200 BC)
- Oldest written language still in existence: Chinese or Greek (about 1500 BC)
- Language with the most words: English, approx. 250,000 distinct words
- Language with the fewest words: Taki Taki (also called Sranan), 340 words. Taki Taki is an English-based Creole spoken by 120,000 in the South American country of Suriname.
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Source: http://www.vistawide.com/languages/language_statistics.htm