top ten world languages - circa 1999 

#########################################################

1)  Mandarin (Chinese)	885 million
2)  English		322 million	
3)  Spanish		266 million	
4)  Bengali		189 million	
5)  Hindi		182 million	
6)  Portugese		170 million	
7)  Russian		170 million	
8)  Japanese		125 million	
9)  German		98 million	
10) Wu (Chinese)	77 million	

#########################################################