Languages of the region
Western Europe as a whole is linguistically diverse. Here is a language breakdown of the major and minor languages in each country of the subregion:
- Austria: German 89%, Serbian 2.4%, Turkish 2.3%, Burgenland Croatian 2.5%
- Germany: 95.0%, Turkish 1.8%
- France: French 92%, Occitan 3.65%, German 3.15%
- The Netherlands: Dutch 92%, Frisian 2.2%
- Luxembourg: Luxembourgish 88.8%, French 4.2%, Portuguese 2.3%
- Liechtenstein: German 95%, Italian 1.1%
The languages spoken in the region can be broken down as such:
As shown by the pie graph, the main languages in the region are German, and French, most likely due to the extensive influence of the German Empire and France in the 18th and 19th century. Dutch is also widely spoken in western Europe. Over 90% of the population of the subregion speaks one of these three languages together; however, there are many other less-common languages, like Italian and Turkish, that are spoken in the region due to globalization and migration.
Here is a chart of the "survival phrases in each of the five major languages in the region:
Linguistic diversity is very high in western Europe due to its status as a global cultural and economic hub. German and its dialects are widely spoken in most of the subregion’s countries, excluding France, Monaco, and Belgium. French or a dialect thereof is present these three countries, as well as in Switzerland and Luxembourg. Most of the major languages in the region (German, Dutch, English, and others) are descended from the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European Language Map: French and Romansh are derived from Latin.