Map of languages spoken in China

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There are many hundred languages in China. The dominant language is Mandarin, but there are many similar Chinese languages, communally identified as Hanyu, used by 92 percent of the population.

Nine hundred fifty-five million Chinese spoke some variation of Mandarin as their first language, estimates for 71 percent of the nation’s population.

The Chinese languages are typically split into 7 main language groups. They contrast as much from each other phonetically and morphologically as do English, German and Danish. Also, about 3 hundred minority languages are used by the remaining 8 percent of China’s population. The ones with the most significant state support are Mongolian, Uyghur, Tibetan, and Zhuang.

China Linguistic Map

Most spoken language by Chinese sub-division

The Chinese language, including dialects, uses Chinese characters for writing. Chinse characters are logograms or single characters expressing entire syllables, words, or even entire blocks of meaning. This is what makes Chinese so different from other languages in the world.

China borders eight countries, with different alphabets being used compared to the Chinese alphabet and within themselves.