Which country has the highest Linguistic Diversity Index?

Papua New Guinea has the highest Linguistic Diversity Index in 2017, at 0.988, followed by Cameroon (0.974) and Vanuatu (0.973).

Which country has the lowest Linguistic Diversity Index?

Cuba has the lowest Linguistic Diversity Index in 2017, at 0.001.

What is the median Linguistic Diversity Index across countries?

The median is 0.461 across the 220 countries with data in 2017.

Where does this linguistic diversity index by country data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue - UNESCO; Linguistic Diversity Index - Wikipedia.

Country rankings

Linguistic Diversity Index by Country

Name: Linguistic Diversity Index by Country
Creator: Rankodex

Papua New Guinea has the highest Linguistic Diversity Index in 2017 (0.988), followed by Cameroon (0.974) and Vanuatu (0.973). Cuba has the lowest (0.001).

Culture227 countries · 2 metricsUpdated Jul 4, 2025Original page

2 sources

Showing

Year 2017220 of 235 countries

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Linguistic Diversity Index, 2017

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 220 countries.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median

0.461

Middle half 0.181 – 0.702

Average

0.446

220 countries

Highest

0.988

Papua New Guinea

Lowest

0.001

Cuba

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

227 countries · # = rank by Linguistic Diversity Index

#
1	Papua New Guinea	0.988	0.99%
2	Cameroon	0.974	0.94%
3	Vanuatu	0.973	0.97%
4	Solomon Islands	0.968	0.97%
5	Central African Republic	0.959	0.96%
6	DR Congo	0.948	0.95%
7	Chad	0.933	0.95%
7	Benin	0.933	0.79%
9	Uganda	0.929	0.93%
9	South Sudan	0.929	—
11	Kenya	0.927	0.9%
12	Mozambique	0.926	0.93%
13	Liberia	0.917	0.91%
14	India	0.914	0.93%
15	Togo	0.905	0.9%
16	Ivory Coast	0.9	0.92%
17	Nigeria	0.89	0.87%
18	Mali	0.873	0.88%
19	Tanzania	0.871	0.97%
19	South Africa	0.871	0.87%
21	Ethiopia	0.862	0.84%
22	Guinea-Bissau	0.859	0.85%
23	Ghana	0.858	0.81%
24	Gabon	0.846	0.92%
25	Philippines	0.842	0.85%
26	Sierra Leone	0.841	0.82%
27	Zambia	0.83	0.86%
28	Bhutan	0.827	0.85%
29	Qatar	0.825	0.61%
30	Republic of the Congo	0.821	0.82%
31	Timor-Leste	0.819	0.9%
32	Indonesia	0.816	0.85%
32	Sint Maarten	0.816	—
34	Afghanistan	0.79	0.73%
35	Madagascar	0.789	0.66%
36	Namibia	0.779	0.81%
37	Senegal	0.778	0.77%
38	Gambia	0.776	0.75%
39	Iraq	0.761	0.48%
39	Singapore	0.761	0.75%
41	Nepal	0.755	0.74%
42	Pakistan	0.752	0.76%
42	Thailand	0.752	0.75%
44	Micronesia	0.751	0.79%
45	New Caledonia	0.75	—
46	Angola	0.748	0.9%
46	Guinea	0.748	0.75%
48	Guam	0.736	—
49	Malaysia	0.735	0.76%
50	Burkina Faso	0.721	0.77%
50	Belize	0.721	0.69%
52	Israel	0.719	0.67%
52	Northern Mariana Islands	0.719	—
54	Suriname	0.709	0.79%
55	United Arab Emirates	0.707	0.78%
56	Belgium	0.7	0.73%
57	Oman	0.698	0.69%
58	Laos	0.697	0.68%
59	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.694	0.42%
60	Malawi	0.692	0.52%
61	Saint Martin	0.689	—
62	Switzerland	0.683	0.55%
63	Tokelau	0.679	0.05%
64	Eritrea	0.672	0.75%
65	Andorra	0.671	0.57%
66	Bahrain	0.658	0.66%
67	Monaco	0.652	0.52%
68	Iran	0.638	0.8%
69	Fiji	0.632	0.61%
70	Sao Tome and Principe	0.63	0.39%
71	Luxembourg	0.622	0.5%
72	Kuwait	0.605	0.56%
73	Canada	0.603	0.55%
74	Trinidad and Tobago	0.599	0.7%
75	Zimbabwe	0.597	0.53%
76	Yemen	0.581	0.58%
77	Niger	0.571	0.65%
78	Brunei	0.57	0.46%
79	Bolivia	0.565	0.68%
80	Comoros	0.551	0.55%
81	Georgia	0.55	0.58%
81	United States Virgin Islands	0.55	—
83	French Guiana	0.549	—
84	Wallis and Futuna	0.548	—
85	Libya	0.538	0.36%
86	Latvia	0.526	0.6%
87	Myanmar	0.522	0.52%
88	China	0.521	0.49%
89	Guatemala	0.518	0.69%
90	Antigua and Barbuda	0.515	0.06%
91	Kazakhstan	0.514	0.7%
91	Guyana	0.514	0.08%
93	Egypt	0.512	0.51%
94	Gibraltar	0.511	0.5%
95	Bahamas	0.509	0.39%
96	Djibouti	0.504	0.59%
97	Albania	0.503	0.26%
98	Barbados	0.5	0.09%
98	British Virgin Islands	0.5	0.17%
100	Jordan	0.498	0.67%
101	North Macedonia	0.495	0.57%
102	Ukraine	0.489	0.49%
102	Taiwan	0.489	—
104	Nauru	0.487	0.6%
105	Cayman Islands	0.475	0.55%
106	Estonia	0.473	0.48%
107	Palau	0.47	0.08%
108	Uzbekistan	0.466	0.43%
109	French Polynesia	0.463	—
110	Morocco	0.461	0.47%
111	Italy	0.46	0.59%
112	Kyrgyzstan	0.459	0.67%
113	Turkmenistan	0.457	0.39%
113	Marshall Islands	0.457	0.03%
115	Reunion	0.452	—
116	Sri Lanka	0.446	0.31%
117	Cyprus	0.444	0.37%
118	Mayotte	0.438	—
119	Aruba	0.429	0.39%
120	Saudi Arabia	0.427	0.61%
121	Belarus	0.411	0.4%
122	Netherlands	0.405	0.39%
123	Lithuania	0.404	0.34%
124	Botswana	0.397	0.44%
125	Moldova	0.389	0.59%
126	Syria	0.363	0.5%
127	Algeria	0.36	0.31%
128	Somalia	0.35	0.18%
129	Turkey	0.345	0.29%
130	Peru	0.339	0.38%
131	Germany	0.336	0.19%
132	United States	0.333	0.35%
133	Bangladesh	0.318	0.33%
134	Dominica	0.313	0.31%
135	Sudan	0.307	0.59%
136	Palestine	0.303	0.21%
137	New Zealand	0.291	0.1%
138	Panama	0.287	0.32%
139	Curacao	0.285	—
140	Equatorial Guinea	0.284	0.45%
141	Russia	0.283	0.28%
142	Spain	0.276	0.44%
143	Australia	0.274	0.13%
144	Vietnam	0.267	0.23%
145	Malta	0.255	0.02%
146	Macau	0.253	—
147	France	0.252	0.27%
148	Slovakia	0.247	0.31%
149	Montenegro	0.244	—
149	Saint Barthelemy	0.244	—
151	Cook Islands	0.232	0.38%
152	Mauritania	0.228	0.17%
153	Sweden	0.226	0.17%
153	Bulgaria	0.226	0.22%
155	Serbia	0.224	0.36%
156	Mauritius	0.216	0.64%
157	Paraguay	0.215	0.35%
158	American Samoa	0.21	—
159	Eswatini	0.209	0.23%
160	Hong Kong	0.205	—
161	Azerbaijan	0.202	0.37%
162	Lebanon	0.198	0.16%
163	Greenland	0.196	—
164	Niue	0.192	0.07%
165	Ecuador	0.182	0.26%
166	Mongolia	0.179	0.33%
167	Samoa	0.174	0%
168	Finland	0.172	0.14%
169	Slovenia	0.167	0.17%
170	Argentina	0.165	0.21%
171	United Kingdom	0.154	0.14%
172	Romania	0.153	0.17%
173	Turks and Caicos Islands	0.146	0.15%
174	Jersey	0.136	—
175	Greece	0.123	0.18%
176	Tunisia	0.122	0.01%
177	Ireland	0.118	0.22%
178	Seychelles	0.116	0.07%
179	Uruguay	0.111	0.09%
180	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	0.11	—
181	Mexico	0.106	0.14%
182	Croatia	0.102	0.09%
183	Cambodia	0.101	0.16%
184	Brazil	0.099	0.03%
185	Liechtenstein	0.092	0.13%
186	Lesotho	0.091	0.26%
187	Rwanda	0.089	0%
187	Denmark	0.089	0.05%
189	Guadeloupe	0.083	—
190	Bermuda	0.076	—
191	Czechia	0.072	0.07%
192	Norway	0.067	0.66%
193	Portugal	0.066	0.02%
194	Grenada	0.064	0.06%
195	Puerto Rico	0.06	—
196	Armenia	0.053	0.17%
197	Nicaragua	0.052	0.08%
198	Poland	0.05	0.06%
199	Martinique	0.043	—
200	Venezuela	0.04	0.03%
200	Dominican Republic	0.04	0.05%
202	Honduras	0.039	0.06%
203	Chile	0.036	0.03%
203	Costa Rica	0.036	0.05%
205	Japan	0.035	0.03%
206	Hungary	0.033	0.16%
207	Tonga	0.029	0.01%
208	Saint Lucia	0.02	0.02%
208	Tuvalu	0.02	0.14%
210	Colombia	0.019	0.03%
210	Kiribati	0.019	0.03%
212	Jamaica	0.017	0.01%
213	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.012	0.01%
214	South Korea	0.01	0%
214	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.01	0.01%
216	Burundi	0.007	0%
216	Iceland	0.007	0.02%
216	Guernsey	0.007	—
219	El Salvador	0.003	0%
220	Cuba	0.001	0%
—	Tajikistan	—	0.48%
—	Austria	—	0.54%
—	Maldives	—	0.01%
—	Cape Verde	—	0.07%
—	San Marino	—	0.49%
—	Anguilla	—	0.14%
—	Montserrat	—	0.03%

What correlates with Linguistic Diversity Index (2017)?

Pearson r against 1,303 other country metrics sharing at least 132 countries. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Linguistic Diversity Index tend to score higher on these (or rank better)

Linguistic FractionalizationMost Diverse Countries
r = +0.78 · very strong · n = 193
Plot
Ethnic FractionalizationMost Diverse Countries
r = +0.67 · strong · n = 181
Plot
Ethnic Fractionalization Index (HIEF)Most Racially Diverse Countries
r = +0.66 · strong · n = 151
Plot
% of Pop. Living on Less Than $10 USD/DayPoverty Rate by Country
r = +0.55 · strong · n = 156
Plot
% of Pop. Living on Less Than $3.65 USD/DayPoverty Rate by Country
r = +0.55 · strong · n = 154
Plot
% of Population at Risk and Poor ($5.5/Day)Flooding by Country
r = +0.54 · strong · n = 136
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Linguistic Diversity Index tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)

LPI Health ScoreBest Healthcare in the World
r = −0.53 · strong · n = 163
Plot
UHC Service Coverage IndexCountries with Universal Healthcare
r = −0.52 · strong · n = 187
Plot
Literacy Rate - FemaleLiteracy Rate by Country
r = −0.52 · strong · n = 166
Plot
Life ExpectancyPast Life Expectancy by Country
r = −0.52 · strong · n = 193
Plot
Homophobic Climate Index Rank (UN)Most Homophobic CountriesA rank: rank 1 is the worst
r = −0.52 · strong · n = 153
Plot
Basic NeedsSocial Progress Index by Country
r = −0.52 · strong · n = 167
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Linguistic Diversity Index?: Papua New Guinea has the highest Linguistic Diversity Index in 2017, at 0.988, followed by Cameroon (0.974) and Vanuatu (0.973).
Which country has the lowest Linguistic Diversity Index?: Cuba has the lowest Linguistic Diversity Index in 2017, at 0.001.
What is the median Linguistic Diversity Index across countries?: The median is 0.461 across the 220 countries with data in 2017.
Where does this linguistic diversity index by country data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue - UNESCO; Linguistic Diversity Index - Wikipedia.

Higher together

Opposite directions

Quick answers

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