Linguistic diversity index

World map of linguistic diversity index (linearly proportional to the shading intensity). Data is from the 18th edition of Ethnologue: Languages of the World.

Linguistic diversity index (LDI) may refer to either Greenberg’s (language) Diversity Index[1] or the related Index of Linguistic Diversity (ILD) from Terralingua.org, which measures changes in the underlying LDI over time.[2]

Greenberg's Diversity Index (LDI) is the probability that two people selected from the population at random will have different mother tongues; it therefore ranges from 0 (everyone has the same mother tongue) to 1 (no two people have the same mother tongue).[3] The ILD measures how the LDI has changed over time; a global ILD of 0.8 indicates a 20% loss of diversity since 1970, but ratios above 1 are possible, and have appeared in regional indexes.[4]

The computation of the diversity index is based on the population of each language as a proportion of the total population. The index cannot fully account for the vitality of languages. Also, the distinction between a language and a dialect is fluid and often political. A great number of languages are considered to be dialects of another language by some experts and separate languages by others. The index does not consider how different the languages are from each other, nor does it account for second language usage; it considers only the total number of distinct languages, and their relative frequency as mother tongues.[5]

Rankings by country

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (as of 2009) the LDI rankings for the following countries are:[6]

Country LDI
 Papua New Guinea.990
 Vanuatu.972
 Solomon Islands.965
 Tanzania.965
 Central African Republic.960
 Chad.950
 Democratic Republic of the Congo.948
 Cameroon.942
 India.930
 Mozambique.929
 Uganda.928
 Gabon.919
 Côte d'Ivoire.917
 Liberia.912
 Angola.901
 Kenya.901
 Togo.897
 Timor-Leste.897
 Mali.876
 Nigeria.870
 South Africa.869
 Zambia.855
 Guinea-Bissau.853
 Philippines.849
 Bhutan.846
 Indonesia.846
 Ethiopia.843
 Congo.820
 Sierra Leone.817
 Namibia.808
 Ghana.805
 Iran.797
 Federated States of Micronesia.792
 Suriname.788
 Benin.785
 United Arab Emirates.777
 Burkina Faso.773
 Senegal.772
 Pakistan.762
 Malaysia.758
 Thailand.753
 Eritrea.749
 Gambia.748
 Guinea.748
 Singapore.748
   Nepal.742
 Belgium.734
 Afghanistan.732
 Kazakhstan.701
 Trinidad and Tobago.696
 Belize.693
 Oman.693
 Guatemala.691
 Bolivia.680
 Laos.678
 Kyrgyzstan.670
 Jordan.666
 Israel.665
 Bahrain.663
 Norway.657
 Madagascar.656
 Niger.646
 Mauritius.641
 Saudi Arabia.609
 Qatar.608
 Fiji.607
 Nauru.596
 Latvia.595
 Italy.593
 Djibouti.592
 Moldova.589
 Sudan.587
 Yemen.579
 Georgia.576
 Andorra.574
 Macedonia.566
 Kuwait.556
 Comoros.551
 Canada.549
  Switzerland.547
 Cayman Islands.547
 Austria.540
 Zimbabwe.526
 Monaco.521
 Myanmar.521
 Malawi.519
 Egypt.509
 Syrian Arab Republic.503
 Luxembourg.498
 Gibraltar.498
 San Marino.494
 Ukraine.492
 China.491
 Iraq.484
 Tajikistan.482
 Estonia.476
 Morocco.466
 Brunei Darussalam.456
 Equatorial Guinea.453
 Botswana.444
 Spain.438
 Uzbekistan.428
 Bosnia and Herzegovina.416
 Belarus.397
 Netherlands.389
 Sao Tome and Principe.389
 Aruba.387
 Bahamas.386
 Turkmenistan.386
 Cook Islands.379
 Peru.376
 Azerbaijan.373
 Cyprus.366
 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.362
 Serbia.359
 United States of America.353
 Paraguay.347
 Lithuania.339
 Bangladesh.332
 Mongolia.331
 Panama.324
 Dominica.313
 Algeria.313
 Sri Lanka.313
 Slovakia.307
 Turkey.289
 Russian Federation.283
 France[note 1].272
 Netherlands Antilles.266
 Ecuador.264
 Lesotho.260
 Albania.257
 Viet Nam.234
 Swaziland.228
 Bulgaria.224
 Ireland.223
 Argentina.213
 Palestine.208
 Germany.189
 Somalia.179
 Greece.175
 Slovenia.174
 Armenia.174
 Mauritania.172
 Romania.168
 Sweden.167
 British Virgin Islands.167
 Lebanon.161
 Hungary.158
 Cambodia.157
 Turks and Caicos Islands.145
 Anguilla.140
 Finland.140
 Tuvalu.139
 United Kingdom.139
 Mexico.135
 Liechtenstein.128
 Australia.126
 New Zealand.102
 Uruguay.092
 Barbados.091
 Croatia.087
 Nicaragua.081
 Guyana.078
 Palau.077
 Niue.071
 Cape Verde.070
 Czech Republic.069
 Seychelles.067
 Grenada.064
 Poland.060
 Antigua and Barbuda.057
 Honduras.056
 Tokelau.054
 Dominican Republic.053
 Denmark.051
 Costa Rica.050
 Chile.034
 Kiribati.033
 Brazil.032
 Colombia.030
 Japan.028
 Marshall Islands.027
 Montserrat.026
 Venezuela.026
 Portugal.022
 Saint Lucia.020
 Iceland.019
 Malta.016
 Tonga.014
 Tunisia.012
 Jamaica.011
 Saint Kitts and Nevis.010
 Maldives.010
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.009
 El Salvador.004
 Burundi.004
 Rwanda.004
 South Korea.003
 Samoa.002
 Cuba.001
 Haiti.000
 Saint Helena
  Vatican City
 Montenegro
 Bermuda
 Hong Kong
 Macao
 North Korea

See also

Notes and References

Notes

  1. Including New Caledonia, a French Overseas Territory with a high level of Linguistic Diversity Index

References

  1. Greenberg, Joseph H. (1956). "The Measurement of Linguistic Diversity". Language. 32 (1): 109–115. doi:10.2307/410659. JSTOR 410659.
  2. Harmon, David; Loh, Jonathan (2010). "The Index of Linguistic Diversity: A New Quantitative Measure of Trends in the Status of the World's Languages". Language Documentation and Conservation. http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc. 4: 97–151. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2014. External link in |publisher= (help)
  3. "Summary by country". Ethnologue. 1999-02-19. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  4. Harmon, David; Loh, Jonathan (2010). "The Index of Linguistic Diversity: A New Quantitative Measure of Trends in the Status of the World's Languages". Language Documentation and Conservation. http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc. 4: 106–107. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2014. External link in |publisher= (help)
  5. "overview of Linguistic Diversity". terralingua.org. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  6. UNESCO World Report – Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue
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