Enclosed for centuries in an island, the Japanese language has remained free of outside influences until quite recently in history. Here is a of places in the world where Japanese is spoken in a daily basis, either as native language or otherwise:
Country |
Languages (%) |
|---|---|
| Brazil | Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note - less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages |
| Japan | Japanese |
| Palau | Palauan 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official), Filipino 13.5%, English 9.4%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.5%, other Asian 2.3%, other languages 1.5% (2000 census) |
| World | Mandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, French 1.2% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
Source: CIA – The World Factbook