Papua New Guinea is the most multilingual country, with over 839 living languages, according to Ethnologue, a catalogue of the world’s known languages.
The site ranked countries and territories based on the number of languages spoken as a first language within their borders.
Here are the top 10 most multilingual countries:
Papua New Guinea’s linguistic diversity can be largely explained by the topography of the country – deep valleys and difficult terrain have led to the separation of tribes and clans and thus several different tongues and dialects have evolved.
The country has a relatively small population of 7 million, which means it is highly likely that two randomly selected people will have different mother tongues.
Indonesia has the next highest number of languages, with 707, while North Korea is the least multilingual country.
Unsurprisingly, smaller countries and islands make up the lower rankings: the British Indian Ocean Territory, for example, has only one language spoken within its borders.
Benefits of bilingualism
But research suggests that being bilingual has extensive cognitive benefits and may even reduce the effects of ageing. These studies propose that speaking more than one language not only improves linguistic and communication skills but also has a much broader positive impact on the brain.
In addition to cognitive benefits, studies have found there are also social and cultural advantages to speaking multiple languages.
The Ethnologue ranking only looks at the number of languages used as a first language in each country. It doesn’t measure the number of people in a country who speak more than one language.
(Source : World Economic Forum)
I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to
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understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia.
I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine.
I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan"
I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy
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