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Language family

Austronesian

A family spread across half the globe by seafaring – from Madagascar through Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. It most likely originated in Taiwan, where its most divergent (Formosan) languages are still spoken.

50 languages on this site · c. 582 million speakers in total (sum of estimates, bilingual people counted more than once) · the main official language in 8 countries.

Highlighted countries: the main official language belongs to this family.

Malayo-Polynesian 50

  1. Indonesian 181 million
  2. Javanese 96 million
  3. Filipino 73 million
  4. Malay 37 million
  5. Sundanese 34 million
  6. Cebuano 28 million
  7. Malagasy 27 million
  8. Madurese 18 million
  9. Iloko 11 million
  10. Hiligaynon 9.9 million
  11. Minangkabau 8.4 million
  12. Betawi 5.9 million
  13. Balinese 5.1 million
  14. Buginese 4.5 million
  15. Banjar 4.2 million
  16. Acehnese 3.9 million
  17. Bikol 3.5 million
  18. Kelantan-Pattani Malay 3.5 million
  19. Waray 3.4 million
  20. Sasak 2.7 million
  21. Oas 2.7 million
  22. Pampanga 2.7 million
  23. Batak Toba 2.6 million
  24. Makasar 2.1 million
  25. Lampung Api 1.9 million
  26. Pangasinan 1.7 million
  27. Maguindanao 1.4 million
  28. Tausug 1.3 million
  29. Rejang 1.3 million
  30. Gorontalo 1.2 million
  31. Ngaju 1.0 million
  32. Tetum 889 thousand
  33. Fijian 371 thousand
  34. Samoan 253 thousand
  35. Māori 145 thousand
  36. Tongan 100 thousand
  37. Tahitian 94 thousand
  38. Gilbertese 70 thousand
  39. Marshallese 60 thousand
  40. Chamorro 46 thousand
  41. Hawaiian 30 thousand
  42. Chuukese 30 thousand
  43. Pohnpeian 23 thousand
  44. Palauan 16 thousand
  45. East Uvean 9.4 thousand
  46. Kosraean 8.0 thousand
  47. Nauru 6.9 thousand
  48. Yapese 6.6 thousand
  49. East Futuna 4.8 thousand
  50. Niuean 1.1 thousand

Classification: Glottolog (CC BY 4.0). Branches are selected nodes of the Glottolog tree.