National (non-pan-regional) languages of Europe of over 20 million speakers and their Wikipedias
Wiki code
Language
Primary Country
Number of speakers (Millions)
Potential Users (Millions)
Number of articles (7-09)
# of articles >1500 bytes (7-09)
Articles, 1 year growth rate (5/08-5/09)
# of 5+editors (5-09)
5+ editors, 1 year growth rate (5/08-5/09)
5+ editors,2 year growth rate (5/07-5/09)
Article to editor ratio
ru
Russian
Russian Federation
*254
73.66
423,072
169,229
40%
3983
52%
138%
106
de
German, Standard
Germany
*118.3
89.91
951,442
pending
21%
6804
-18%
-15%
140
it
Italian
Italy
62
30.23
600,596
228,226
27%
2915
-2%
11%
206
pl
Polish
Poland
40
17.6
626,273
156,568
21%
1977
-7%
-11%
317
uk
Ukrainian
Ukraine
37
8.51
157,477
29,921
35%
386
29%
114%
408
ro
Romanian
Romania
23
5.62
128,952
23,211
16%
408
18%
55%
316
nl
Dutch
Netherlands
22
18.66
550,361
165,108
23%
1590
-3%
-14%
346
Note that Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese were not included as they appear in the pan-regional language section, and that Turkey is included in the Middle East rather than being divided between Europe and the Middle East.
There are over 491 million speakers of the 21 national languages listed, comprising 67% of the population of Europe.
European countries are generally dominated by a single national language which is spoken by everyone and used in the media (the definition of a national language is when law is written in them, the administration communicates in each language often depending on the citizens preference, courts hear cases in the language according to the citizens preference, media communicate in them). In some countries the national language coexists alongside one or more local languages (e.g. Spain: Catalan, basque) that are used for daily conversation and occasionally in the media; except in Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Belgium has 3 national languages Dutch, French and German
Switzerland has 4 languages : French, German, Italian and Romansh
Luxembourg : Letzebuerg, French and German
The national languages generally have a long written history and there is an extensive literature covering a variety of subjects available in these languages. Generally, the local languages have existed but largely as spoken languages and therefore have a much more limited literary tradition.
European languages and education
All of the national languages listed are used as mediums of instruction at the elementary, secondary and university level
In some countries such as Spain the local language is taught as a separate subject in school, however generally there is minimal education provided in the local language
Internet penetration in Europe
There is a significant difference between Internet penetration in Eastern Europe and Western Europe.
Approximately 64% of Western Europeans are Internet users
Approximately 29% of Eastern Europeans are Internet users
European language Wikipedias
Growth of national European language Wikipedias has generally been very strong. There is a loose relationship between the number of potential users and the development of the European national language Wikipedias. The exception to this is the Scandinavian countries which have developed very extensive Wikipedias despite the small number of speakers of those languages.
Growth of local European language Wikipedias has varied dramatically.
Barriers to the growth of European language Wikipedias
(The list below is speculative.)
Quality of Internet connection (dial-up? unstable connection? no home connection, reliance on internet cafes?), see also Regional bandwidth;
attitude towards Internet usage (use primarily for email or social networking with people not in the same geographic region? seen as detrimental to human relationships?);
attitude towards free (as in beer) materials (you get what you pay for? volunteers don't do as good a job as paid experts?);
attitude towards contributing to a project without payment (why give away hard work? why not work on things that will bring in an income?).
Notes
↑Information on languages from Ethnologue 2009 http://www.ethnologue.com Potential users is calculated by multiplying the number of language speakers by the national or regional Internet use rate. Internet use rates from from the International Telecom Union 2008
↑Information on languages from Ethnologue 2009 http://www.ethnologue.com Potential users is calculated by multiplying the number of language speakers by the national or regional Internet use rate. Internet use rates from from the International Telecom Union 2008
↑Information on languages from Ethnologue 2009 http://www.ethnologue.com Potential users is calculated by multiplying the number of language speakers by the national or regional Internet use rate. Internet use rates from from the International Telecom Union 2008