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Population Projections by 2050 - Question | ||
Tags: Number of speakers | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Dixon Groupie Canada Joined 6052 days ago 54 posts - 74 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 2 17 May 2011 at 1:01am | IP Logged |
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What do you think the most spoken languages will be by 2050?
I was looking at some population projections of countries (of course they are simplified and cannot predict everything exactly, but they can be a guide) and it seems like some of the most populous countries in the world will be Nigeria and India. And that countries in Sub Saharan Africa are set to boom in population. There are also a lot of resources in that region of Africa (although they are hard to get at because of political risk) so there might be economic opportunities for Westerners who can come in and communicate with those populations. Also, China (if it continues with its population control policies from now until then) will have an aged population whereas India and Nigeria will have working-age populations which should add to their economic productivity. What does the growth of Africa mean for languages? I always thought that many of the growing countries in Africa speak English, French, and Arabic. True or not? Do the people in Nigeria speak English or a type of creole? Here is a projection of the most populous countries by 2050: http://geography.about.com/od/lists/a/2050pop.htm 1. India - 1,692,008,000 2. China - 1,295,604,000 3. United States - 403,101,000 4. Nigeria - 389,615,000 5. Indonesia - 293,456,000 6. Pakistan - 274,875,000 7. Brazil - 222,843,000 8. Bangladesh - 194,353,000 9. Philippines - 154,939,000 10. Democratic Republic of the Congo - 148,523,000 11. Ethiopia - 145,187,000 12. Mexico - 143,925,000 13. Tanzania - 138,312,000 14. Russia - 126,188,000 15. Egypt - 123,452,000 16. Japan - 108,549,000 17. Vietnam - 103,962,000 18. Kenya - 96,887,000 19. Uganda - 94,259,000 20. Turkey - 91,617,000 It doesn't give us the whole picture because many countries in Africa are small in size, so while the region as a whole may grow dramatically but only a few countries will show up on the list. Also important is: What is the language of business in these countries? Maybe the people speak different languages at home but the educated or productive people will have knowledge of a second language. Last question: What is the *language family* that could go the farthest in speaking to a lot of people? My guess learning Hindi would be a good start, then one could learn Punjabi (my grandparents who speak Punjabi just call it "farmer Hindi," and then Bengali). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Matheus Senior Member Brazil Joined 5082 days ago 208 posts - 312 votes Speaks: Portuguese* Studies: English, French | Message 2 of 2 17 May 2011 at 3:12am | IP Logged |
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What do you think the most spoken languages will be by 2050?
Thread Edited by Matheus on 17 May 2011 at 3:14am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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