Following is data derived from the 1994 Encyclopedia Brittanica Book of the Year regarding language populations for the top 12 languages, which are the baseline set for the Loglan/Lojban project (only the top 6 are used for Lojban gismu making). Now that the data is on computer, it can be maintained and updated in future years with some likelihood that the method of calculation will be fairly consistent each time. I have tab-compressed the data on 8 character column multiples. Column 1 is native speakers of the language from the BotY. Column 2 is non-native speakers, speakers of the language as a lingua franca, and speakers of creoles and other significantly non-standard dialects (e.g. Catalan and Galician for Spanish, Luxembourgish for German, and non-Mandarin Chinese.) These numbers also come straight from the BotY. Ukrainian and Belarussian are considered native Russian speakers, since I know the differences are more political than linguistic. Urdu and Malayayam are considered native dialects of Hindi and Malay-Indonesian respectively. What is rarely carried in the BotY are speakers of the official language of a country as a second language. For example, how many non-native-English speakers in the UK speak English as a second language. The answer is something less than 100%; so I used the percentage literacy multiplied by the number of non-native-or-creole speakers of an official language. For European countries, literacy is close to 100%, but for 3rd world countries, the number is far less. For countries with 2 official languages, I further reduced the result of the above calculation by the ratio of the speakers of the official language divided by the total speakers of all official languages. The result of this calculation is considered as an increment to any number of 2nd language speakers given in column 2. That increment is shown in column 3, and the data used in the calculation is shown in column 4. (In previous iterations of these statistics, I have used variations on this method to estimate 2nd language speakers. Creole speakers were originally treated as native speakers, though I have since learned that the creoles are sufficiently different from the standard language that a native speaker knowledge of the standard language is improbable.) The former Soviet states are a special case, in that Russian (or a dialect) is an official language in only 3 of the current countries, but the educational system up to a couple of years ago was built around Russian as the official language. Because of this, I calculated 2nd language Russian speakers based on those educated beyond primary grades (literacy figures are not generally available for these countries), as if it *were* the native language, but then subtracted the number of native Russian speakers in the country from this total to determine the column 3 number. In future years, this number may need to be slowly prorated downward as a new education system supplants the Russian one, but this should not have significant effect for at least a decade, as the older Russian speakers will probably retain their educated knowledge as long as Russia is the dominant economic power of the region. Columns 5 and 6 exist for Arabic only , and are an increment based on countries in which Arabic is the official language or the Muslim religion is militantly supported by the government (Iran being the major example). In this case, I determined if there was an excess of followers of the Muslim religion above the total number of 1st and 2nd language speakers of Arabic determined in columns 1-4. This excess was then multiplied by the literacy rate to get a guesstimate of non-Arabic speakers who might still have considerable knowledge of the language through religious training. I did not calculate a religion-based number for countries that are Muslim, but which are unlikely to have government-sponsored teaching of the language. Having determined these numbers, the Lojban gismu-making weights are determined by summing the number of native speakers and 1/2 the total from all 3 methods of estimating 2nd language speakers (since these 3 methods include an elimination of overlap in the calculation). The numbers are summarized as follows: native 2nd/creole+literacy+religion native+1/2*2nd normalized weight for 6 languages based on 1.0 total. Chinese 792.183 310.584+21.957 958.454 .348 Hindi 405.745 56.6+201.225 534.658 .194 English 329.906 163.662+73.214 448.343 .163 Spanish 325.856 7.069+15.723 337.252 .123 Russian 210.772 0+62.456 242.000 .088 Arabic 198.468 0+19.264+48.323 232.262 .084 Bengali 180.290 0+.904 180.742 Portuguese 164.124 6.199+9.238 171.843 Japanese 124.6059 0 124.6059 French 72.589 41.384+23.010 104.786 Malay-Indon. 36.656 .04+133.053 103.203 German 91.616 1.716+7.625 96.287 For comprison, here is the total speakers from the 1987 World Almanac and the numbers used in the 1987 gismu-remaking effort, which were based on the 1985 BotY. Note that Hindi passed up English in about 1989 due to rapidly increasing numbers of native speakers and an increase in literacy which is continuing. The drop in native English, French, German, and Indonesian speakers is due to the switching of creole speakers and some estimates of non-native official language speakers (especially in Africa) from native to 2nd language totals. 1987 1987 gismu-remaking 1994 World Almanac native 2nd n+1/2s norm. weight weight Chinese 788 752.1 319.1 911.7 .360 .348 English 420 366.5 322.4 527.7 .208 .163 Hindi 382 294 200.3 394.2 .156 .194 Spanish 296 264.7 58.2 293.8 .116 .123 Russian 285 164.3 109.7 219.12 .087 .088 Arabic 177 155.9 57.7 184.8 .073 .084 Bengali 171 87 80.8 127.4 Portuguese 164 110.4 45.5 133.2 Malay/Indon. 128 121.1 39.5 140.9 Japanese 122 120.1 0.6 120.4 German 118 105.4 18.3 114.6 French 114 81.1 75.5 118.9 Following is the 6 columns of 1994 raw data, by language, by country Chinese Australia .161 Brunei .045 Cambodia .029 Canada .296 China 775.000 309.58 4.691 1179.467-775.0 *.777 - 309.58 Costa Rica .006 Fr. Polynesia .012 Guam .002 HongKong .066 1.004 Japan .120 N.Korea .040 S.Korea .040 Macau .004 Malaysia 1.750 Mauru .0009 N.Mariana I. .0011 Panama .008 Phillipines .160 Singapore 2.232 .408 2.876-2.232 * 2.232/2.844 *.807 Taiwan 2.760 16.858 20.926-2.76 *.928 Thailand 7.010 USA 1.450 Vietnam .990 792.183 310.584 21.957 958.454 Hindi Bangladesh .210 Fiji .352 India 394.090 56.6 170.952 896.567-394.09 *450.69/479.69 *.482 -56.6 Jamaica .050 Mauritius .149 Nepal .730 Oman .040 Pakistan 9.730 30.267 127.962-9.73 * .256 Qatar .024 (.320*9.73/127.962) .006 .320*9.73/127.962 * .256 (derived from Pakistan stats) USA .370 405.745 56.6 201.225 534.658 English Amer. Samoa .002 .050 Andorra .001 Antigua .063 .0027 .066-.063 *.90 Aruba .006 Australia 15.311 2.406 17.729-15.311 *.995 Bahamas .210 .532 .266-.210 *.95 Bangladesh 3.000 Barbados .026 .234 creole Belize .103 .047 creole .502 .204-.150 *.93 Bermuda .056 .0047 .0608-.056 *.969 Botswana 1.035 1.406 *.736 Brunei .107 Canada 17.790 7.087 28.149-17.790 * 17.790/24.86 *.956 Colombia .05 creole Costa Rica .064 creole Denmark .018 Dominica .022 .049 .0739-.022 *.944 Fiji .150 .513 .762*.87 -.150 France .080 French Guiana .002 creole Gambia .281 1.033 *.272 Ghana 9.444 15.636 * .604 Gibraltar .026 .0031 .0291-.026 * .99 Grenada .091 Guam .053 .089 Guernsey .064 Guyana .590 creole .138 .755 *.964 -.590 Honduras .016 creole Hong Kong .131 1.739 India .310 28.690 .0 896.567-.310 * 29/439 *.482 -28.690 Ireland 3.340 .167 3.516-3.340 *3.340/3.516 *1.000 Isle of Man .072 Israel .065 Jamaica .660 1.73 creole .081 2.472-2.39 *.984 Japan .070 Jersey .086 Kenya 2.2 Kiribati .069 .0769 *.90 Lesotho 1.407 1.903 *.736 Liberia 2.6 creole Macau .002 Malawi .530 3.872 10.581 *.416 -.53 Malaysia .310 5.490 .597 19.077-.310 *5.8/14.02 *.784 -5.49 Malta .008 .022 .362-.008 *.008/.354 *.96 Marshall Isl .048 .0521 *.912 Mauritius .002 Micronesia .0005 Monaco .002 Namibia .130 Nauru .0008 Nether Antilles .015 New Zealand 3.288 .240 3.520-3.288 *3.288/3.401 *1.0 Nicaragua .042 creole Nigeria 32.0 creole 6.817 91.549 *.424 - 32.0 N Mariana Isl .0022 .0389 .396 .454-.0022 *.963 -.0389 Norway .023 Pakistan 15.0 Panama .345 creole Papua New Guinea 2.6 creole .0 3.918 *.52 -2.6 Phillipines 34.0 5.597 64.954 *.887 *34.0/49.47 -34.0 Puerto Rico 1.711 Qatar .038 .320*15./127.96 (based on Pakistan) St Kitts Nevis .042 St Lucia .136 St. Vincent .108 .001 .109-.108 *1.0 Seychelles .002 Sierra Leone .930 4.491 * .207 Singapore 1.076 .587 2.876 *1.076/1.688 *.907 -1.076 Solomon Isl .189 .349 *.541 South Africa 3.540 9.216 40.786 -3.54 *3.54/10.93 *.764 Spain .100 Sri Lanka 1.820 Sweden .031 Tanzania .800 Trinidad 1.249 creole Tunisia .270 Uganda .180 Unit Kingdom 56.380 1.700 58.08-56.38 * 1.0 USA 222.55 28.280 5.800 258.233-222.62 *.955 -28.21 Vanuatu .130 Virgin Islands .085 .018 .105-.085 *.90 West Samoa .086 .003 .163-.086 *.086/.163 *.077 Zambia .700 5.491 8.504 *.728 -.7 Zimbabwe .230 7.892 10.687 *.76 -.23 329.906 163.662 73.214 448.343 Spanish Andorra .029 Argentina 32.150 .359 33.527-32.15 *.953 Aruba .005 Australia .087 Belgium .050 Belize .064 .056 Bolivia 6.922 .567 7.715-6.922 * 6.922/7.507 *.775 Canada .093 Chile 12.410 1.057 13.542-12.41 * .934 Colombia 34.760 Costa Rica 3.119 .074 3.199-3.119 *.928 Cuba 10.892 Dominican Rep 7.470 .137 7.634-7.47 *.833 Ecuador 10.220 .687 10.985-10.22 * .898 El Salvador 5.517 Equat. Guinea .237 .377 *.628 France .022 Germany .140 Gibraltar .0291 Guatemala 6.290 2.064 9.713-6.290 *.603 Honduras 5.009 .102 5.148-5.009 *.731 Israel .046 Luxembourg .002 Mexico 82.860 6.194 89.955-82.86 *.873 Nicaragua 4.041 .166 4.265-4.041 *.74 Panama 1.994 .501 2.563-1.994 *.881 Paraguay 2.552 1.056 4.613-2.542 * 2.542/4.493 *.901 Peru 20.670 1.850 22.916-20.67 * 20.67/22.41 *.893 Puerto Rico 3.547 .058 3.612-3.547 *.891 Spain 31.570 6.70 .470 39.141-31.57 *.947 -6.7 Sweden .053 USA 19.430 Uraguay 3.040 .104 3.149-3.04 *.95 Venezuela 20.810 Virgin Islands .014 325.856 7.069 15.723 337.252 Russian Australia .027 Azerbaijan .560 5.787 7.398 *.858 -.56 Belarus 10.240 .087 10.353-10.24 *.77 Bulgaria .020 Canada .259 Czech .011 Estonia .530 1.001 1.536*.997 -.53 Georgia .490 4.327 5.493 *.877 -.490 Israel .094 Kazakhstan 8.480 5.922 17.186 *.838 -8.48 Kyrgyzstan 1.160 3.153 4.526 *.953 -1.16 Latvia 1.090 .380 1.500 *.98 -1.090 Lithuania .440 1.407 3.310 *.558 -.440 Moldova 1.380 1.913 4.362 *.755 -1.380 Poland .420 Romania .105 Russia 130.470 13.498 148.0-130.47 *.77 Slovakia .016 Tajikistan .550 4.225 5.705 *.837 -.550 Turkmenistan .470 3.240 4.294 *.864 -.470 Ukraine 51.200 .908 52.344-51.2 *.794 USA .380 Uzbekistan 2.380 16.608 21.901*.867 -2.38 210.772 62.456 242.000 Arabic Algeria 22.320 2.703 27.029-22.32 *.574 1.072 26.89 religion -25.023 *.574 Australia .131 Bahrain .350 .105 .486-.35 *.774 .41 religion Belgium .160 Cameroon .130 Canada .045 Chad 1.600 .898 6.118-1.6 *1.6/2.4 *.298 .057 2.69 religion-2.498 *.298 Comoros .009 .020 .516-.009 *.009/.106 *.463 .225 .514 religion-.029 *.463 Djibouti .030 .068 .565-.030 *.030/.080 *.337 .180 .531 religion-.098 *.337 Egypt 56.420 .333 57.109-56.42 *.484 .0 51.4 religion Eritrea .340 1.7 religion *.20 literate France 1.460 Gaza .712 Gibraltar .002 Iran 1.310 38.096 59.74 religion-1.31 *.652 literate Iraq 14.990 2.654 19.435-14.990 *.597 .726 18.86 religion-17.644 *.597 Israel 1.002 .861 5.451-1.002 *1.002/4.751 *.918 Jordan 3.730 .024 3.76-3.73 *.801 Kenya .070 Kuwait 1.460 .037 1.51-1.46 *.730 Lebanon 2.710 .159 2.909-2.71 *.801 Libya 4.390 .121 4.58-4.39 * .638 .0 4.44 religion Mauritania 1.770 .136 2.171-1.77 *.34 .086 2.16 religion-1.906 *.34 Morocco 17.220 4.591 26.494-17.22 *.495 2.133 26.12 religion-21.811 *.495 Netherlands .144 Niger .020 Nigeria .300 Oman 1.250 .184 1.698-1.25 *.41 .011 1.46 religion-1.434 *.41 Qatar .220 .241 .539-.220 *.757 .029 .5 religion-.461 *.757 Saudi Arabia 16.550 .542 17.419-16.550 *.624 .073 17.21 religion-17.092 *.624 Somalia 4.401 8.031 religion * .548 literate Sudan 12.340 3.431 25.0-12.34 *.271 .672 18.25 religion-15.771 *.271 Syria 11.900 1.197 13.398-11.9 *.799 11.92 religion Tunisia 8.490 .026 8.53-8.49 *.653 Turkey .820 UAE .840 .837 1.986-.840*.730 .170 1.910 religion-1.677 *.730 USA .040 West Bank 1.050 Western Sahara .213 Yemen 12.270 .096 12.519-12.27 *.385 .052 12.5 religion-12.366 *.385 198.468 19.264 48.323 232.262 Bengali Bangladesh 112.460 .904 115.0575-112.46 *.348 India 67.770 Nepal .020 USA .040 180.290 .904 180.742 Portuguese Andorra .007 Angola 3.800 .752 10.916 * .417 -3.8 Brazil 152.500 3.242 156.493-152.5 *.812 Canada .172 Cape Verde .350 France .660 Germany .090 Guinea-Bissau .107 .354 creole .211 1.038-.461 * .365 Luxembourg .032 Macau .010 Mozambique .190 4.952 15.243-.190 * .329 Paraguay .146 Portugal 9.730 .081 9.823-9.73 *.868 Sao Tome .125 Spain 1.57(Galician) USA .480 164.124 6.199 9.238 171.843 Japanese Brazil .750 Guam .003 Hong Kong .012 Japan 123.360 N.Marianas I. .0009 USA .480 124.6059 124.6059 French Algeria 12.000 Andorra .005 Australia .064 Bahamas .050 creole Belgium 3.290 2.386 10.072-3.290 * 3.29/9.35 *1.0 Benin .790 .401 5.091 *.234 -.790 Bulgaria .240 Burkina Faso .580 1.200 9.78 *.182 -.580 Burundi .530 .886 5.665 *.25 -.530 Cameroon 1.970 1.581 13.103 *.271 -1.97 Canada 7.060 5.726 28.149-7.06 *7.06/24.86 *.956 Cent Afr Rep .340 .013 2.998 *.377 *.34/1.09 -.34 Chad .800 .0 4.029 *.298 *.8/2.4 -.8 Comoros .087 .030 .154 .516-.087 * .117/.126 *.463 -.03 Congo .810 .761 2.775 *.566 - .810 Ivory Coast 4.700 2.541 13.459 *.538 -4.7 Djibouti .050 .069 .565 *.337 * .05/.08 -.05 Dominica .071 creole Dominican Rep .150 creole Egypt .260 France 54.03 3.616 57.69 -54.03 *.988 French Guiana .116 creole .010 .128-.116 *.82 Fr Polynesia .171 .039 .212-.171 *.95 Gabon .430 .347 1.28 *.607 -.43 Guadaloupe .398 .019 .419-.398 *.901 Guernsey .064 Guinea .636 Haiti .890 6.010 creole Israel .045 Italy .300 Jersey .006 .080 .086 -.006 *1.0 Lebanon .700 Luxembourg .013 Madagascar 1.400 .0 13.255 * 1.4/14.520 *.802 -1.4 Mali .700 1.843 7.946 *.320 -.7 Martinique .365 .011 .377-.365 *.925 Mauritania .120 Mauritius .040 .612 creole Mayotte .044 .0 .104 *.318 -.044 Monaco .012 .018 .030-.012 *1.0 New Caledonia .060 .069 .180-.060 *.579 Niger 1.300 .0 8.516 *.108 -1.3 Reunion .580 creole .042 .634-.58 *.782 Rwanda .520 St. Lucia .109 creole Senegal .390 Seychelles .001 .066 creole .004 .0713-.067 *.842 Switzerland 1.345 1.194 6.966-1.345 *1.345/6.33 *1.0 Togo .650 Tunisia 2.510 USA 1.910 .210 creole Vanuatu .050 creole Virgin Islands .003 Zaire 3.300 .0 42.473 *.718 -29.0 (other lingua franca) -3.3 72.589 41.384 23.010 104.786 Malay-Indonesian Brunei .218 .049 .275-.218 *.851 Indonesia 22.790 128.371 188.216-22.79 *.776 Malaysia 11.140 4.092 19.077-11.14 *11.14/16.94 *.784 Singapore .408 .541 2.876-.408 *.408/1.688 *.907 Thailand 2.100 USA .04 creole 36.656 .04 133.053 103.203 German Australia .135 Austria 7.470 .468 7.938-7.47* 1.000 Belgium .090 .096 10.072-.09 * .09/9.350 * 1.000 Belize .003 Brazil .860 Canada .487 Czech .048 Denmark .009 France 1.31 Germany 75.830 5.357 81.187-75.83 * 1.000 Hungary .160 Israel .036 .117 (Yiddish) Italy .300 Kazakhstan .540 Liechtenstein .0269 .0032 .0301-.0269 *1.0 Luxembourg .009 .289 (Lux'ish) .094 .392-.009 *1.0 -.289 Paraguay .040 Poland .500 Romania .119 Russia .350 Slovakia .006 Sweden .045 Switzerland 4.452 1.607 6.966-4.452 * 4.452/6.966 *1.0 91.616 1.716 7.625 96.287