Top 10 Languages Spoken in Australia – 2016 Census. (Source: Ethnologue) The exact number of languages spoken … 60 Number of Aboriginal languages considered 'alive' and in use as a first tongue today. In Asia alone, there are 2,294 languages spoken, in Africa 2,144, Americas 1,061, the Pacific 1,313, and Europe with 287 languages. Last Updated on September 10, 2020. Australia is undergoing a massive shift from speaking European languages to Asian languages, and the full extent of those spoken is unknown, language experts say. Throughout history, immigration patterns have determined the most widely spoken languages in Australia. Australia - Australia - Languages: Although English is not Australia’s official language, it is effectively the de facto national language and is almost universally spoken. English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. Tiwi (spoken on the Tiwi Islands - 2,020 speakers ) Murrinh-Patha (spoken at Wadeye in the Northern Territory - 1,966 speakers) Kunwinjku (one of a group of related languages spoken … For example, following the wave of European settlement, languages such as German and Greek made up a significant proportion of Australia’s non-English speaking community. The top five are Mandarin (2.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.2%), Vietnamese (1.2%) and Italian (1.2%). The Australian population as at the 2016 Census was 23.4 million people, with one in five Australians now speaking a language other than English at home. The dominant language spoken at home, other than English, in Australia was Mandarin, with 2.5% of the population, or 596,703 people speaking this language at home. In 2016, 25.1% of people from NSW spoke a language other than English at home. 11% Percentage of Aboriginal people mainly speaking an Aboriginal language at home in 2008, unchanged from 2002. ~600 Number of dialects spoken in Australia before invasion. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia. Nevertheless, there are hundreds of Aboriginal languages, though many have become extinct since 1950, and most of the surviving languages have very few speakers. Last changed 27 May 2020 Australian languages The best collection of links relating to Australian languages (to August 2016) is in the WWW VL - Aboriginal Languages of Australia. People identifying as Agnostic, Atheist, or Nonreligious are predominantly young, urban dwellers. The major difference between the languages spoken at home for the population of Australia and Greater Capital Cities in 2016 was: Conversely, there are around 46 languages that only have a single speaker! Number of Aboriginal languages spoken in Australia before invasion. This group has increased significantly over the last 100 years when it was once only reported by 1 in 250 people. This group makes Australia one of the least religious countries in the developed world. New South Wales is Australia’s 2nd most linguistically diverse state, behind arch-rivals Victoria.