Linguistic diversity index (LDI) may refer to either Greenberg's (language) Diversity Index ^[1] or the related Index of Linguistic Diversity (ILD) from Terralingua, 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

SIL International (2017) [6]

UNESCO (2009) [7]

Rank Country / region LDI 1   Papua New Guinea 0.988 2   Cameroon 0.974 3   Vanuatu 0.973 4   Solomon Islands 0.968 5   Central African Republic 0.959 6   Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.948 7   Benin 0.933 8   Chad 0.933 9   South Sudan 0.929 10   Uganda 0.929 11   Kenya 0.927 12   Mozambique 0.926 13   Liberia 0.917 14   India 0.914 15   Togo 0.905 16   Ivory Coast 0.900 17   Nigeria 0.890 18   Mali 0.873 19   South Africa 0.871 20   Tanzania 0.871 21   Ethiopia 0.862 22   Guinea-Bissau 0.859 23   Ghana 0.858 24   Gabon 0.846 25   Philippines 0.842 26   Sierra Leone 0.841 27   Zambia 0.830 28   Bhutan 0.827 29   Qatar 0.825 30   Republic of the Congo 0.821 31   East Timor 0.819 32   Indonesia 0.816 33   Sint Maarten 0.816 34   Afghanistan 0.790 35   Madagascar 0.789 36   Namibia 0.779 37   Senegal 0.778 38   The Gambia 0.776 39   Iraq 0.761 40   Singapore 0.761 41     Nepal 0.755 42   Pakistan 0.752 43   Thailand 0.752 44   Micronesia 0.751 45   New Caledonia 0.750 46   Angola 0.748 47   Guinea 0.748 48   Guam 0.736 49   Malaysia 0.735 50   Belize 0.721 51   Burkina Faso 0.721 52   Israel 0.719 53   Northern Mariana Islands 0.719 54   Suriname 0.709 55   Caribbean Netherlands 0.707 56   United Arab Emirates 0.707 57   Belgium 0.700 58   Oman 0.698 59   Laos 0.697 60   Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.694 61   Malawi 0.692 62   Saint Martin 0.689 63    Switzerland 0.683 64   Tokelau 0.679 65   Eritrea 0.672 66   Andorra 0.671 67   Bahrain 0.658 68   Monaco 0.652 69   Iran 0.638 70   Fiji 0.632 71   São Tomé and Príncipe 0.630 72   Luxembourg 0.622 73   Kuwait 0.605 74   Canada 0.603 75   Trinidad and Tobago 0.599 76   Zimbabwe 0.597 77   Yemen 0.581 78   Niger 0.571 79   Brunei 0.570 80   Bolivia 0.565 81   Comoros 0.551 82   Georgia 0.550 83   United States Virgin Islands 0.550 84   French Guiana 0.549 85   Wallis and Futuna 0.548 86   Libya 0.538 87   Latvia 0.526 88   Myanmar 0.522 89   China 0.521 90   Guatemala 0.518 91   Antigua and Barbuda 0.515 92   Guyana 0.514 93   Kazakhstan 0.514 94   Egypt 0.512 95   Gibraltar 0.511 96   The Bahamas 0.509 97   Djibouti 0.504 98   Albania 0.503 99   Barbados 0.500 100   British Virgin Islands 0.500 101   Jordan 0.498 102   North Macedonia 0.495 103   Taiwan 0.489 104   Ukraine 0.489 105   Nauru 0.487 106   Cayman Islands 0.475 107   Estonia 0.473 108   Palau 0.470 109   Uzbekistan 0.466 110   French Polynesia 0.463 111   Morocco 0.461 112   Italy 0.460 113   Kyrgyzstan 0.459 114   Marshall Islands 0.457 115   Turkmenistan 0.457 116   Réunion 0.452 117   Sri Lanka 0.446 118   Cyprus 0.444 119   Mayotte 0.438 120   Aruba 0.429 121   Saudi Arabia 0.427 122   Belarus 0.411 123   Netherlands 0.405 124   Lithuania 0.404 125   Botswana 0.397 126   Moldova 0.389 127   Syria 0.363 128   Algeria 0.360 129   Somalia 0.350 130   Turkey 0.345 131   Peru 0.339 132   Germany 0.336 133   United States 0.333 134   Norfolk Island 0.325 135   Bangladesh 0.318 136   Dominica 0.313 137   Sudan 0.307 138   Palestine 0.303 139   New Zealand 0.291 140   Panama 0.287 141   Curaçao 0.285 142   Equatorial Guinea 0.284 143   Russia 0.283 144   Spain 0.276 145   Tajikistan 0.276 146   Australia 0.274 147   Vietnam 0.267 148   Malta 0.255 149   Macau 0.253 150   France 0.252 151   Slovakia 0.247 152   Montenegro 0.244 153   Saint Barthélemy 0.244 154   Austria 0.234 155   Cook Islands 0.232 156   Mauritania 0.228 157   Bulgaria 0.226 158   Sweden 0.226 159   Serbia 0.224 160   Mauritius 0.216 161   Paraguay 0.215 162   American Samoa 0.210 163   Swaziland 0.209 164   Hong Kong 0.205 165   Azerbaijan 0.202 166   Lebanon 0.198 167   Greenland 0.196 168   Niue 0.192 169   Ecuador 0.182 170   Mongolia 0.179 171   Samoa 0.174 172   Finland 0.172 173   Slovenia 0.167 174   Argentina 0.165 175   United Kingdom 0.154 176   Romania 0.153 177   Turks and Caicos Islands 0.146 178   Anguilla 0.141 179   Jersey 0.136 180   Greece 0.123 181   Tunisia 0.122 182   Ireland 0.118 183   Seychelles 0.116 184   Uruguay 0.111 185   Saint Pierre and Miquelon 0.110 186   Mexico 0.106 187   Croatia 0.102 188   Cambodia 0.101 189   Brazil 0.099 190   Liechtenstein 0.092 191   Lesotho 0.091 192   Denmark 0.089 193   Rwanda 0.089 194   Guadeloupe 0.083 195   Bermuda 0.076 196   Czech Republic 0.072 197   Norway 0.067 198   Portugal 0.066 199   Grenada 0.064 200   Puerto Rico 0.060 201   Armenia 0.053 202   Nicaragua 0.052 203   Montserrat 0.050 204   Poland 0.050 205   Martinique 0.043 206   Dominican Republic 0.040 207   Venezuela 0.040 208   Honduras 0.039 209   Chile 0.036 210   Costa Rica 0.036 211   Japan 0.035 212   Hungary 0.033 213   Tonga 0.029 214   Saint Lucia 0.020 215   Tuvalu 0.020 216   Colombia 0.019 217   Kiribati 0.019 218   Jamaica 0.017 219   Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.012 220   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.010 221   South Korea 0.010 222   Burundi 0.007 223   Guernsey 0.007 224   Iceland 0.007 225   El Salvador 0.003 226   Cuba 0.001 227   Haiti 0.000 228   Isle of Man 0.000 229   San Marino 0.000 230   Vatican City 0.000 231   British Indian Ocean Territory 0.000 232   North Korea 0.000

Rank Country / region LDI 1   Papua New Guinea .990 2   Vanuatu .972 3   Solomon Islands .965 4   Tanzania .965 5   Central African Republic .960 6   Chad .950 7   Democratic Republic of the Congo .948 8   Cameroon .942 9   India .930 10   Mozambique .929 11   Uganda .928 12   Gabon .919 13   Côte d'Ivoire .917 14   Liberia .912 15   Angola .901 16   Kenya .901 17   Togo .897 18   Timor-Leste .897 19   Mali .876 20   Nigeria .870 21   South Africa .869 22   Zambia .855 23   Guinea-Bissau .853 24   Philippines .849 25   Bhutan .846 26   Indonesia .846 27   Ethiopia .843 28   Republic of the Congo .820 29   Sierra Leone .817 30   Namibia .808 31   Ghana .805 32   Iran .797 33   Micronesia .792 34   Suriname .788 35   Benin .785 36   United Arab Emirates .777 37   Burkina Faso .773 38   Senegal .772 39   Pakistan .762 40   Malaysia .758 41   Thailand .753 42   Eritrea .749 43   Gambia .748 44   Guinea .748 45   Singapore .748 46     Nepal .742 47   Belgium .734 48   Afghanistan .732 49   Kazakhstan .701 50   Trinidad and Tobago .696 51   Belize .693 52   Oman .693 53   Guatemala .691 54   Bolivia .680 55   Laos .678 56   Kyrgyzstan .670 57   Jordan .666 58   Israel .665 59   Bahrain .663 60   Norway .657 61   Madagascar .656 62   Niger .646 63   Mauritius .641 64   Saudi Arabia .609 65   Qatar .608 66   Fiji .607 67   Nauru .596 68   Latvia .595 69   Italy .593 70   Djibouti .592 71   Moldova .589 72   Sudan .587 73   Yemen .579 74   Georgia .576 75   Andorra .574 76   North Macedonia .566 77   Kuwait .556 78   Comoros .551 79   Canada .549 80    Switzerland .547 81   Cayman Islands .547 82   Austria .540 83   Zimbabwe .526 84   Monaco .521 85   Myanmar .521 86   Malawi .519 87   Egypt .509 88   Syria .503 89   Luxembourg .498 90   Gibraltar .498 91   San Marino .494 92   Ukraine .492 93   China .491 94   Iraq .484 95   Tajikistan .482 96   Estonia .476 97   Morocco .466 98   Brunei .456 99   Equatorial Guinea .453 100   Botswana .444 101   Spain .438 102   Uzbekistan .428 103   Bosnia and Herzegovina .416 104   Belarus .397 105   Netherlands .389 106   Sao Tome and Principe .389 107   Aruba .387 108   Bahamas .386 109   Turkmenistan .386 110   Cook Islands .379 111   Peru .376 112   Azerbaijan .373 113   Cyprus .366 114   Libya .362 115   Serbia .359 116   United States .353 117   Paraguay .347 118   Lithuania .339 119   Bangladesh .332 120   Mongolia .331 121   Panama .324 122   Dominica .313 123   Algeria .313 124   Sri Lanka .313 125   Slovakia .307 126   Turkey .289 127   Russia .283 128   France [note 1] .272 129   Netherlands Antilles .266 130   Ecuador .264 131   Lesotho .260 132   Albania .257 133   Vietnam .234 134   Swaziland .228 135   Bulgaria .224 136   Ireland .223 137   Argentina .213 138   Palestine .208 139   Germany .189 140   Somalia .179 141   Greece .175 142   Slovenia .174 143   Armenia .174 144   Mauritania .172 145   Romania .168 146   Sweden .167 147   British Virgin Islands .167 148   Lebanon .161 149   Hungary .158 150   Cambodia .157 151   Turks and Caicos Islands .145 152   Anguilla .140 153   Finland .140 154   Tuvalu .139 155   United Kingdom .139 156   Mexico .135 157   Liechtenstein .128 158   Australia .126 159   New Zealand .102 160   Uruguay .092 161   Barbados .091 162   Croatia .087 163   Nicaragua .081 164   Guyana .078 165   Palau .077 166   Niue .071 167   Cape Verde .070 168   Czech Republic .069 169   Seychelles .067 170   Grenada .064 171   Poland .060 172   Antigua and Barbuda .057 173   Honduras .056 174   Tokelau .054 175   Dominican Republic .053 176   Denmark .051 177   Costa Rica .050 178   Chile .034 179   Kiribati .033 180   Brazil .032 181   Colombia .030 182   Japan .028 183   Marshall Islands .027 184   Montserrat .026 185   Venezuela .026 186   Portugal .022 187   Saint Lucia .020 188   Iceland .019 189   Malta .016 190   Tonga .014 191   Tunisia .012 192   Jamaica .011 193   Saint Kitts and Nevis .010 194   Maldives .010 195   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines .009 196   El Salvador .004 197   Burundi .004 198   Rwanda .004 199   South Korea .003 200   Samoa .002 201   Cuba .001 202   Haiti .000 203   Saint Helena None 204   Vatican City None 205   Montenegro None 206   Bermuda None 207   Hong Kong None 208   Macau None 209   North Korea None

See also

• Ethnologue
• Linguistic rights
• List of official languages by country and territory
• Number of languages by country

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

• Terralingua's Index of Language Diversity is a dead link, but similar information is available from the same site at
• https://web.archive.org/web/20120822015417/http://www.terralingua.org/linguisticdiversity/ and it appears to be based on the following paper:
• http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/4474/harmonloh.pdf