The world by tweet language

[Comte Arnau]

The world according to the languages used in tweets. Also interesting from a sociological point of view, and to notice which areas are more densely populated.


The Iberian Peninsula: Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan.




Europe. It even looks nice, so colourful.




North America (partly): English, Spanish, French




East Asia: Japanese, Korean, Chinese.




You can see the whole large map of the world in here.

[Ouistreham]

This map clearly shows that Catalan is the only minority language in Europe with some twitting visibility (but it's non-existent in France, and largely dominated by Spanish in Valencia and the Balearic islands).

Frtom a twitting point of view Corsica and Alsace are just as French as Sardinia is Italian.

There's something weird with the many blue dots in France, Wallonia and Luxembourg. They can't be all Dutch. Of course the crowds of Dutch lorries, trailers and holydaymakers make French motorways look like Batavian corridors, that was expected. But the density of blue in Luxembourg and "Dordogneshire" (the famous British colony in SW France) seems to indicate that English has been confused with Dutch on the continent.


Wow, despite mass immigration Spanish is nothing in USA north of the border.

[Comte Arnau]

This map clearly shows that Catalan is the only minority language in Europe with some twitting visibility (but it's non-existent in France, and largely dominated by Spanish in Valencia and the Balearic islands).

Well, Catalan is not really a minority language. With almost 10 million speakers, it's a middle language in Europe, like Greek, Swedish or Portuguese. Unlike them, though, it's still a minorized language in a number of fields, due to the fact of lacking a state. (Yeah, it's the only official one in Andorra, but that doesn't count.)

Catalan is among the 15 languages most used in the Internet, so it shouldn't be surprising that it's so much used in Twitter. In fact, the fact of being the only language community in the world with a domain (.cat) is partly for that reason. But if you take into account that 75 languages in the world have more speakers than Catalan and that about 40% of Catalonians use Spanish instead of Catalan in the Internet, the figures are incredible indeed.

This said, you're totally right about the map, I also noticed it. Catalan is vigorous in Catalonia and Andorra, but it's in serious trouble in Majorca and Valencia (for political reasons) and almost non-existent in French Catalonia, unfortunately.

There's something weird with the many blue dots in France, Wallonia and Luxembourg. They can't be all Dutch. Of course the crowds of Dutch lorries, trailers and holydaymakers make French motorways look like Batavian corridors, that was expected. But the density of blue in Luxembourg and "Dordogneshire" (the famous British colony in SW France) seems to indicate that English has been confused with Dutch on the continent.


Wow, despite mass immigration Spanish is nothing in USA north of the border.

Good points.

It's kind of sad for me to notice that, other than Catalan and Galician (apparently the more pinkish colour in the Galician coast), no other stateless languages seem to figure in the map. I'd have expected Basque to show a bit too.

[The Ripper]

Well, Catalan is not really a minority language. With almost 10 million speakers, it's a middle language in Europe, like Greek, Swedish or Portuguese. Unlike them, though, it's still a minorized language in a number of fields, due to the fact of lacking a state. (Yeah, it's the only official one in Andorra, but that doesn't count.)

Catalan is among the 15 languages most used in the Internet, so it shouldn't be surprising that it's so much used in Twitter. In fact, the fact of being the only language community in the world with a domain (.cat) is partly for that reason. But if you take into account that 75 languages in the world have more speakers than Catalan and that about 40% of Catalonians use Spanish instead of Catalan in the Internet, the figures are incredible indeed.

This said, you're totally right about the map, I also noticed it. Catalan is vigorous in Catalonia and Andorra, but it's in serious trouble in Majorca and Valencia (for political reasons) and almost non-existent in French Catalonia, unfortunately.



Good points.

It's kind of sad for me to notice that, other than Catalan and Galician (apparently the more pinkish colour in the Galician coast), no other stateless languages seem to figure in the map. I'd have expected Basque to show a bit too.

Åland. But Swedish is an official language in Finland, after all.

[Comte Arnau]

Åland. But Swedish is an official language in Finland, after all.

Yes, and by stateless language I meant a language that isn't official anywhere at state level. That is, the badly called 'minority languages', as some of them are spoken by millions.

Nice observation though, I wasn't aware that Swedish was so overwhelming in Aland.

[The Ripper]

Nice observation though, I wasn't aware that Swedish was so overwhelming in Aland.

Unlike Finland, which is bilingual, the autonomous territory of Åland is monolingual (Swedish).

[Odoacer]

Wow, despite mass immigration Spanish is nothing in USA north of the border.

That's largely a function of which demographics 1) have Internet access, and 2) use Twitter. By percentage of Spanish speakers per county, it's like this:

[Damião de Góis]

Galicia seems to be largely castillian speaking. It's the way i thought it would be.
Basque country was a real surprise. Unless basque nationalists don't use tweet.

[Comte Arnau]

Galicia seems to be largely castillian speaking. It's the way i thought it would be.
Basque country was a real surprise. Unless basque nationalists don't use tweet.

They could have chosen a more different colour for Galician, as pink and red get a bit confused. But yes, I guess that language policies being looser there have made Spanish gain a lot of social territory.

[Damião de Góis]

They could have chosen a more different colour for Galician, as pink and red get a bit confused. But yes, I guess that language policies being looser there have made Spanish gain a lot of social territory.

Pink and red? I could swear it's all red. Could be my screen..