The green on this map follows the mountain belt from the Caucasus through to Southeast Asia.

Isolated mountain communities develop their own speech over time. This isn’t anything exotic — it’s just what prolonged separation does to language. Mountains keep producing that separation in a way that other terrain doesn’t. Even communities that have technically lived within reach of each other for centuries can end up linguistically unconnected because ridges and valleys interrupt the regular contact that blends languages together. Researchers who study this have a name for places where it happens reliably — “accretion zones,” where geographic fragmentation keeps any single language from spreading and dominating. The Caucasus is a good illustration of how far this can go — a region between the Black and Caspian Seas small enough to cross in a single day of driving, containing between 35 and 40 indigenous languages across three completely unrelated families. These families share no common ancestors and look nothing like each other — or like anything else spoken outside the region.

The same dynamic plays out further along the mountain chain. Nepal’s 2011 census came back with 123 officially recognized languages — for a country roughly the size of Iowa, that’s a genuinely unusual figure. Quite a few of those languages are in trouble, kept alive by a few hundred speakers in places that are hard to reach and even harder to study. The numbers in the table below come from Ethnologue and Wikipedia, and they should be read loosely — survey dates and methodologies differ enough that the real figures are probably somewhat different in most cases.

One thing raw speaker counts don’t communicate well is how genuinely unrelated some of these languages are to anything around them. Burushaski is probably the most extreme case — around 120,000 people speak it in the Karakoram, and despite decades of research, nobody has found a connection to any other language family. Not a distant one, not a tentative one. Most languages carry traces of contact somewhere in their history — borrowed vocabulary, shared grammatical patterns, common roots with something nearby. Burushaski has none of that.

The post Why So Many Languages Cluster Along Asia’s Mountain Belt appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Germans borrowed Latin letters. Poles and Czechs did the same. Russians got Cyrillic from scholars who were working in the Balkans centuries ago. Persian is written in a form of Arabic script.

Reddit user @Shoddy-Fan-584 wondered which countries actually write in systems invented on their own land. Not borrowed from neighbors. Not adapted from somewhere else. Actually created there.

Red means borrowed. Blue means invented locally (just 27 countries show up blue).

Start with Africa. Tifinagh has been used in North Africa for thousands of years, and Morocco and Algeria still write Berber and Tamazight in it. Ge’ez is even older—Ethiopia and Eritrea both use it.

Italy is blue because Latin script started there before going global. Greece invented its letters there. The Cyrillic alphabet? That came from medieval scholars in what’s now North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Georgia has Mkhedruli. Armenia created a specific alphabet back in 405 CE.

India developed multiple scripts. Devanagari is probably the one you’ve heard of. Bangladesh has Bengali. Nepal made its own systems. Sinhala comes from Sri Lanka. Bhutan uses Tibetan script. All of these trace back to ancient Brahmi but they’re completely different from each other now.

Look at Southeast Asia—it’s almost entirely blue. Myanmar has its script. So does Thailand. Laos too. Cambodia has Khmer. Vietnam used to write in Chữ Nôm before French colonizers showed up and pushed Latin letters.

China invented its character system way back. Japan made hiragana and katakana on top of borrowing Chinese characters. In the 1440s, Korea created Hangul specifically because Chinese characters just didn’t work well for Korean. Taiwan still writes in traditional Chinese characters. Mongolia has its own traditional script, though most Mongolians use Cyrillic these days.

Twenty-seven total.

The mapmaker who made this map had to decide what counts as inventing versus borrowing. They went with this: if you just added letters to someone else’s alphabet, that’s borrowing. If you changed how the whole system works, that’s inventing.

Poles put marks on Latin letters. Still Latin. Lao came from Khmer originally, but it changed structurally enough to count as independent. Persian looks pretty different from Arabic, but it’s built on the same foundation—borrowing. Russia uses Cyrillic all the time, but Cyrillic came from the Balkans, not Russia—red.

Writing systems spread because they’re effective. Latin works for English. Also works for Polish, Turkish, Vietnamese. Completely different languages, same letters. Arabic script moved into Persian and Urdu.

Why did these 27 bother making their own? Sometimes it was practical—Chinese characters really were awkward for writing Korean sounds, which is why King Sejong had scholars design Hangul. Sometimes it was about independence. Sometimes people just wanted to try something different.

The post Where Did Your Alphabet Really Come From? appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Someone actually did this. They translated all 50 state names into Latin, following the grammar rules of classical Latin.

Some translations are straightforward. Montana becomes Montāna (already basically Latin). California stays California. Colorado turns into Cōlorātum.

Others get weird. Washington becomes Vashintōnia. Massachusetts becomes Massaciussēta. Minnesota is Minnesōta. They just Latinized the spelling and added Latin endings.

The English-named states had to get creative. New York becomes Novum Eboracum. Why Eboracum? That was what Romans called the city of York in England. New Jersey is Nova Caesarēa. Pennsylvania becomes Pennsilvania or Silvānia Penni, which actually makes sense since it means Penn’s Woods in English anyway.

U.S. States in Latin – Complete Table

The Virginias are easy. Virginia becomes… Virginia (Romans would’ve used this word). West Virginia is Virginia Occidentālis.

North and South Carolina turn into Carolina Septentriōnālis and Carolina Merīdiōnālis. Georgia becomes Georgia. Maryland is Terra Mariae (Land of Mary).

Rhode Island becomes Insula Rhodēnsis. Connecticut is Cōnneticūtia. Delaware is Delevāria.

Every Latin noun has a gender. The translator had to pick whether each state was masculine, feminine, or neuter. Most ended up feminine (the -a ending). Idaho is neuter (Idahum). A few got masculine forms.

The Dakotas are Dacōta Septentriōnālis and Dacōta Merīdiōnālis. Nebraska is Nebrasca. Kansas is Cansia. Missouri is Missūria.

Idaho is Idahum. Utah is Ūta. Wyoming is Vyomīna. Oregon is Oregōnia. Nevada is Nivāta, which works because “Nevada” already means snowy.

Alaska is Alasca. Hawaii is Havaī. Florida stays Florida (already proper Latin). Louisiana is Ludovīciāna, from Ludovicus (the Latin version of Louis).

This is what the United States would be called if Rome had somehow discovered America 1,500 years early.

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Here’s what got me. When Pakistan became independent, they chose Urdu as the official language. Only 5% of people spoke it then! Now it’s 7%.

The country has 70 to 90 languages total, but look at how the major ones stack up:

Punjabi has five times as many speakers as Urdu. Four other languages beat it too. Why pick a language almost nobody speaks natively?

The 1947 partition left Pakistan’s founders with a dilemma. People of Pakistan would have opposed any local language as a national language leading to a controversy in the new state. Choose Punjabi and the Pashtuns, Sindhis, and Baloch get angry. Pick Sindhi and everyone else feels excluded. Urdu worked because no region owned it. Muslims throughout India spoke different languages and dialects but they could understand and speak Urdu without much effort.

There was more to it than practicality. The linguistic patriotism of Indian Muslims over Urdu played a significant role in the formation of Pakistan, and it had already served as a lingua franca among Muslims in north and northwest British India. The Mughals used it at court. The language’s ties to Islam helped too—Urdu’s link to Muslims and Islam is one of the reasons behind declaring it as the national language of Pakistan.

Urdu itself goes back to around the 12th century. It came from Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and local Indian languages mixing in the Delhi region.

What surprised me most: Urdu and Hindi are mutually intelligible regional dialects of the same language written in different scripts. The phrase “This is a book” comes out as yeh kitaab hai in both. The difference is the script—Hindi uses Devanagari (derived from Sanskrit), Urdu uses Nasta’liq (modified Arabic).

They diverge in formal vocabulary. Hindi borrows from Sanskrit, Urdu from Persian and Arabic. The Hindi word for “country” is desh, the Urdu word is mulk. Pronunciation varies too. The letter ف sounds like “F” in Urdu but “Ph” in Hindi. The guttural ق in Urdu becomes a plain “K” in Hindi.

Today about 95% of Pakistanis understand Urdu even though only 7% grew up speaking it. Kids learn it in school as a required subject through secondary level, which turned millions of people into second-language Urdu speakers.

The post Pakistan Language Map: When Only 7% Speak the Official Language appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Hungarian dominates the group with about 14 million speakers in Hungary and neighboring countries.

Siberia’s a different story. The Khanty number around 30,000, but only a fraction still speak the language. The Mansi are fewer – roughly 12,000 in total – and fewer than 1,000 of them are fluent today.

These three languages descend from a common ancestor, but they’ve grown so different over thousands of years that Hungarians, Khanty, and Mansi can’t understand each other. Khanty and Mansi speakers in Siberia even have trouble with each other’s dialects.

So how did these groups spread so far apart?

Researchers point to the Ural Mountains as the old homeland. Some groups stayed on the eastern side and became the Khanty and Mansi, while others slowly moved west over centuries. That westward branch eventually reached the Carpathian Basin, where Hungarian developed into a major European language.

Genetics gives a bit of extra context. Hungarians today show only faint traces of that ancient Siberian ancestry, since they mixed heavily with other Europeans over time. Khanty and Mansi, by contrast, have kept much more of the genetic signature that ties them to Siberian and early Eurasian populations.

So within this tiny Ugric branch of the Uralic family, we see two very different outcomes: Hungarian, a national language spoken by millions in Central Europe, and Khanty and Mansi, small Indigenous languages in Siberia now fighting for survival.

The post Hungarian’s Siberian Cousins: The Surprising Geography of Ugric Languages appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Austronesian and Niger-Congo are the two largest language families in the world, each containing approximately one-fifth of the world’s languages.

The Austronesian languages are spoken by approximately 386 million people, constituting 4.9% of the world’s population and ranking as the fifth-largest language family by speaker count. Key languages within this family include Malay, with around 250–270 million speakers in Indonesia, particularly in its literary form known as Indonesian. Other significant Austronesian languages encompass Javanese, Sundanese, Tagalog (Filipino), Malagasy, and Cebuano. With an estimated 1,257 languages, the Austronesian family holds the second-highest number of languages within any language family.

While numerous Austronesian languages have a limited number of speakers, major languages boast tens of millions of users. For instance, Indonesian, spoken by 199 million people, ranks as the eleventh most-spoken language globally. Approximately twenty Austronesian languages hold official status in their respective countries.

The Austronesian people originated from Taiwan and initiated migration to Maritime Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean approximately 4000 years ago. They replaced and assimilated earlier populations, sometimes being the first to settle on islands such as Madagascar, the Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island, and New Zealand. As the first seafaring race in human history, Austronesians played a pivotal role in exploration.

Not surprisingly, during the first half of the second millennium CE, Austronesian had the widest geographical span of any language family until the colonial period when Indo-European spread. It stretched from Madagascar in the southeast of Africa to Easter Island in the east of the Pacific. Hawaiian, Rapa Nui, Māori, and Malagasy (spoken on Madagascar) stand as geographic outliers within the Austronesian linguistic landscape.

Want to learn more about languages? Explore the following books available on Amazon:

• Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages
• The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds
• Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It 

The post The Extent of the Austronesian Language Family appeared first on Vivid Maps.

The map below created by Reddit user: Aofen shows indigenous languages of the Americas with more than 25,000 speakers.

Quechua, spoken across the Andean region, particularly in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, represents another significant indigenous language with a large speaker population (6.9 million speakers). Southern Quechua stands out as the predominant form of Quechua, once the official language of the Inca Empire. Its usage experienced significant growth during the Inca era and persisted under Spanish governance, finding widespread application among Catholic missionaries. However, following the rebellion led by Tupac Amaru II in the 1780s, the language faced suppression, and its prestige gradually diminished in the post-independence period. Presently, Southern Quechua is primarily spoken in rural regions, particularly within the core territories of the former Inca Empire.

Guarani holds the status of one of Paraguay’s official languages, alongside Spanish. It is distinctive in its high regard and extensive usage across Paraguayan society. Unlike the prevailing language shift in many Latin American regions towards European languages, where the descendants of Spanish and Portuguese colonists adopted these languages, Paraguay presents a unique scenario. Here, early settlers acquired and transmitted Guarani to their offspring. Presently, Guarani is spoken by approximately 6.5 million individuals, predominantly in Paraguay, but also in regions of neighboring countries.

Nahuatl served as the national language of the Aztec Empire, and today, it endures as a spoken language for approximately 1.7 million people in Mexico. Its usage is predominantly found in rural areas that are dispersed across the regions that once constituted the Aztec Empire. Nahuatl has contributed significantly to the linguistic landscape, giving rise to numerous words in both Spanish and English, including familiar terms such as avocado, chili, chipotle, chocolate, coyote, atlatl, axolotl, and tomato, among others.

Nahuatl continues to thrive in various forms and dialects, contributing to the linguistic diversity of Mexico and parts of Central America.

The Aymara language, native to the Aymara people, is spoken by approximately 1.7 million individuals, predominantly in Bolivia and Peru. While historically extending across a broader region, Aymara has experienced a decline in usage over the past centuries, yielding territory to Quechua and, subsequently, Spanish. Despite lacking genetic ties, Aymara and Quechua have profoundly influenced one another, resulting in shared linguistic features and vocabulary.

K’iche’ is utilized by approximately 1.7 million speakers, primarily concentrated in Guatemala, where it holds the position as the country’s second most spoken language. As the most prevalent among the Mayan languages, K’iche’ belongs to a linguistic family that encompasses various other widely spoken languages distributed across Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.

These Native languages, among others, represent not only linguistic diversity but also the cultural richness and resilience of indigenous communities in the Americas. As efforts to preserve and revitalize these languages gain momentum, they play a crucial role in maintaining the cultural heritage and identity of indigenous peoples across the continent.

Want to learn more about the Indigenous people of the Americas and their languages? Check out these books.

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (ReVisioning History)
• Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America
• Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present

The post Most Spoken Indigenous Languages of the Americas appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Ryan Starkey, a skilled cartographer and language enthusiast, has created what might be the most detailed map of British English dialects ever made. This incredible United Kingdom map of dialects showcases the amazing diversity of English spoken throughout Britain.

The Incredible Variety of British Dialects

The United Kingdom is home to an astonishing number of dialects. It’s tough to pin down an exact figure because dialect boundaries aren’t always clear-cut, but linguists reckon there are between 30 and 40 major dialects in the UK. And that’s not even counting the countless sub-dialects and local variations. When you consider that all this linguistic diversity is packed into an area of just 242,495 square kilometers (93,628 square miles), it’s clear that the British Isles are a real hotspot for language variety.

Some of these dialects can be real head-scratchers for outsiders. Take Glaswegian, the dialect of Glasgow, Scotland. It’s known for its rapid-fire delivery and unique words that can leave even other Scots scratching their heads.

Then there’s Geordie, the dialect from Newcastle. It’s so distinct that it can stump other Brits, let alone foreign visitors.

And let’s not forget the West Country accents of Southwest England. They’re often played up in TV and films, but the real deal can be just as tricky to follow.

These dialects really bring to life the diversity that Starkey’s captured in his United Kingdom map of dialects.

Why So Many Dialects?

You might wonder why the British Isles, a relatively small geographical area, has such a wealth of linguistic variety. The answer lies in its long and complex history:

• Ancient roots: English has been spoken continuously in Britain for about 1,600 years, allowing plenty of time for regional differences to develop.
• Geographical isolation: Rivers, mountains, and other natural barriers have historically limited communication between regions, fostering unique linguistic features.
• Historical invasions: Waves of invaders and settlers, including Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, have all left their mark on the language.
• Social factors: Class differences and social mobility have also played a role in shaping dialects.

The Changing Face of British Dialects

While the United Kingdom map of dialects shows an impressive array of linguistic diversity, the landscape is not static. Several factors are influencing the evolution of British dialects. Dialect levelling is one such factor, where increased mobility and media exposure are causing some regional differences to diminish, particularly among younger speakers. At the same time, urban dialects are emerging as cities, especially London, become melting pots of various speech patterns, creating new hybrid forms like Multicultural London English. Interestingly, this trend is not universal. Some communities are actively working to preserve and promote their local dialects through revival movements, resisting the trend towards homogenization. These competing forces of change and preservation make the study of British dialects a dynamic and fascinating field.

Populous vs. Endangered Dialects

Some British dialects are spoken by millions, while others are at risk of disappearing. Here’s a quick overview:

Most widely spoken dialects:

• Estuary English (Southeast England)
• Received Pronunciation (not region-specific, but associated with educated speakers)
• Geordie (Newcastle and Tyneside)

Endangered dialects:

• Cornish dialect English (Cornwall)
• Black Country dialect (West Midlands)
• Pitmatic (former mining communities in Northeast England)

Explore Further: Maps of the United Kingdom

If you’re fascinated by the geography and culture of the British Isles, you might enjoy these maps available on Amazon:

• Collins Britain & Ireland 2024 Big Road Atlas
• British Isles Classic Wall Map
• Scratch-Off Map of Europe

These maps offer different perspectives on the United Kingdom’s geography, complementing the linguistic insights provided by Starkey’s dialect map.

Ryan Starkey’s detailed United Kingdom map of dialects offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich tapestry of British English. As you explore this linguistic landscape, remember that each dialect tells a story of history, geography, and community. Whether you’re planning a trip to the British Isles or simply curious about language diversity, this map is an invaluable resource for understanding the vibrant world of British English dialects.

The post The Fascinating World of British English Dialects: A Journey Through the United Kingdom Map appeared first on Vivid Maps.

Other similar expressions in English that could be used in this situation include “Do you want to let all the heat/cold out?” or “Do you want the bugs to come in?”

It’s worthwhile to note, however, that the tone and context in which these expressions are used can greatly affect how they are received. It’s always wise to consider the individual and the situation before using any potentially confrontational language.

The map below, created by Efisha’s maps, shows what to say to someone who leaves the door open after coming in different languages

Overall, the way people express the idea of closing the door after entering a room can vary greatly depending on the language, region, and culture, even in the same country.

Here are other expressions, distinct from those on the map, which may also be used in different countries.

French: “Tu n’es pas né(e) dans une étable” (You weren’t born in a stable)

Spanish: “¿Se puede saber para qué sirve la puerta?” (May I know what the door is for?)

German: “Wohnen wir im Freien oder was?” (Do we live outside or what?)

Italian: “Siamo in chiesa o in stalla?” (Are we in a church or a stable?)

Portuguese: “Nasceu no campo?” (Were you born in the countryside?)

Russian: “Вы выросли в шинели?” (Did you grow up in a coat?) or “Вы дома ветер развеиваете?” (Do you let the wind blow through your house?)

South Korean: “집 안은 못 잡아요?” (Can’t you catch the inside of the house?)

In some regions of the United States, people might say “You weren’t born in a barn, were you?” or “Were you raised in a barn?” which are variations of the same phrase. In other regions, people might use expressions like “Do you live in a barn?” or “Were you born in a zoo?”

In some parts of Canada, people might say “Were you raised in a treehouse?” instead of “Were you born in a barn?” This expression is meant to convey a similar idea of someone being raised without learning basic etiquette or manners.

In Australia, people might say “Were you born in a tent?” which is a reference to the country’s history of camping and outdoor living.

In some regions of India, people might say “Makaan chor!” which means “House thief!” This expression is meant to convey the idea that leaving the door open is like inviting someone to steal from the house.

These expressions all play on the idea that leaving the door open is a sign of being uncivilized or lacking basic manners.

The post What to say to someone who leaves the door open after coming in European languages appeared first on Vivid Maps.

The Semitic language family is known for its ancient history, with some of its earliest forms dating back thousands of years. One of the most well-known Semitic languages is Arabic, which is spoken by millions of people across the Arab world and is the liturgical language of Islam. Arabic has had a profound influence on literature, science, and culture, both historically and in the contemporary world.

Hebrew is another prominent Semitic language, and it holds significant religious and cultural importance for Jewish communities. It was revived as a spoken language in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming the official language of Israel.

Aramaic, once a dominant language in the ancient Near East, is still spoken in some communities and has historical and religious significance, particularly in Christian traditions. Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, is used liturgically by several Christian denominations.

Other Semitic languages include Amharic in Ethiopia, Tigrinya in Eritrea, and Ge’ez, which has religious importance in Ethiopian Christianity. In addition to these, there are smaller Semitic languages and dialects spoken in various parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

The map below illustrates the current distribution of Semitic languages.

Semitic languages have left an indelible mark on the history and culture of the regions where they are spoken. They have also contributed to the development of writing systems, including the Phoenician alphabet, which served as the basis for many other writing systems, including the Greek and Latin scripts.

While many Semitic languages continue to thrive today, some face challenges, such as language endangerment or displacement due to cultural, political, or social factors. Despite these challenges, the rich heritage of Semitic languages endures, with a legacy that spans millennia and continues to shape the linguistic and cultural landscape of the Middle East and beyond.

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• Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
• The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language

The post Current Semitic Languages in the World Mapped appeared first on Vivid Maps.