World Language Map

Languages spoken in Colombia

85 living languages are mapped in Colombia. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Spanish (93% of the population). They belong to 17 language families, the largest being Tucanoan (18 languages). 7 are language isolates, with no known relatives.

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The filter only changes what is drawn. Tap the map to list every language at a spot, whichever family is shown. You can also pick any family from its own page.

Key

Language families (largest ten)

  • Atlantic-Congo
  • Austronesian
  • Sino-Tibetan
  • Indo-European
  • Afro-Asiatic
  • Nuclear Trans New Guinea
  • Otomanguean
  • Austroasiatic
  • Tai-Kadai
  • Pama-Nyungan

Everything else

  • All other families Smaller families, isolates and unclassified languages.
  • Point A language with no area map. The dot sits at its Glottolog position, in its family colour.

How to read the map. Each colour is a language family: a group of languages that share a common ancestor. The ten largest families have their own colour and every other family is grey. Areas are see-through, so where two languages share a place the colours mix. Tap anywhere to list every language whose area covers that spot. Areas are generalisations drawn from published atlases, many of them decades old, and cities are multilingual, so an area never says that everyone there speaks the language. A dot marks a language that has no area map. The family name is always given in words, because colour alone is hard to tell apart for some people.

Languages of Colombia at a glance

  • 85living languages
  • 17language families
  • 49.6 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 2with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Colombia. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

The 40 most widely spoken languages in Colombia

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

LanguageFamilyShare of populationEstimated speakersStatus
SpanishIndo-European93%46,117,212Not endangered
WayuuArawakan0.3%133,889Threatened
AchaguaArawakanShifting
AndoqueIsolateNearly extinct
Angosturas TuneboChibchanShifting
ArhuacoChibchanThreatened
Awa-CuaiquerBarbacoanThreatened
Baniva de MaroaArawakanShifting
Baniwa do IcanaArawakanShifting
Barasana-EduriaTucanoanShifting
Barro Negro TuneboChibchanShifting
BaríChibchanThreatened
BoraBoranThreatened
Border KunaChibchanThreatened
CabiyaríArawakanShifting
CamsáIsolateShifting
CarapanaTucanoanShifting
CarijonaCaribanNearly extinct
Central TuneboChibchanShifting
ChimilaChibchanShifting
Cocama-CocamillaTupianNearly extinct
CofánIsolateThreatened
CoguiChibchanThreatened
Colombian IngaQuechuanShifting
CubeoTucanoanShifting
CuibaGuahiboanShifting
CurripacoArawakanThreatened
DesanoTucanoanShifting
Emberá-BaudóChocoanThreatened
Emberá-CatíoChocoanThreatened
Emberá-ChamíChocoanThreatened
Emberá-TadóChocoanThreatened
EpenaChocoanThreatened
GuambianoBarbacoanThreatened
GuayaberoGuahiboanThreatened
HitnuGuahiboanShifting
HupNaduhupNot endangered
KakuaKakua-NukakShifting
KoreguajeTucanoanShifting
KotiriaTucanoanShifting

Read more: where is Spanish spoken?

Language families in Colombia

All 85 languages in Colombia, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Colombia comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Colombia

How many languages are spoken in Colombia?

85 living languages are mapped in Colombia, from 17 families, plus 7 language isolates. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Colombia?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Spanish is spoken by 93% of the population, about 46,117,212 people, followed by Wayuu (0.3%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Colombia?

Tucanoan (18 languages), Chibchan (11 languages), Arawakan (10 languages), Chocoan (7 languages) and Guahiboan (5 languages), and 12 more.

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