# Linguistic diversity index

Linguistic diversity index (LDI) may refer to either Greenberg's (language) Diversity Index or the related Index of Linguistic Diversity (ILD) from Terralingua, which measures changes in the underlying LDI over time.
Greenberg's Diversity Index (LDI) is the probability that two people selected from the population at random will have different mother tongues; it therefore ranges from 0 (everyone has the same mother tongue) to 1 (no two people have the same mother tongue). The ILD measures how the LDI has changed over time; a global ILD of 0.8 indicates a 20% loss of diversity since 1970, but ratios above 1 are possible, and have appeared in regional indexes.
The computation of the diversity index is based on the population of each language as a proportion of the total population. The index cannot fully account for the vitality of languages. Also, the distinction between a language and a dialect is fluid and often political. A great number of languages are considered to be dialects of another language by some experts and separate languages by others. The index does not consider how different the languages are from each other, nor does it account for second language usage; it considers only the total number of distinct languages, and their relative frequency as mother tongues.
A few examples may be helpful in understanding these caveats.
Are Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese considered the same language for this survey? A footnote in the UNESCO report says only "Country for which a comparison between Ethnologue’s official language designation and IBE’s coded timetable information was possible, the result of which highlighted certain inconsistencies."
Haiti is listed with an index of 0.000, despite having both French and Haitian Creole as official languages.
The United States is listed with an index of 1/3, which mechanically implies that if you pick two people at random, at least 1/3 of the time one of them won't have English as their Mother tongue -- but that is very different from saying that they are not fluent in English.

## Rankings by country

The UNESCO report cites an earlier (2005) edition of the Ethnologue as its own source for this particular data. The UNESCO report remains a useful independent source and benchmark year because of its wider availability. Footnotes do warn that the precise numbers should be used with some skepticism.
| SIL International (2017) | UNESCO (2009) |
| Rank Country / region LDI 1 Papua New Guinea0.988 2 Cameroon0.974 3 Vanuatu0.973 4 Solomon Islands0.968 5 Central African Republic0.959 6 Democratic Republic of the Congo0.948 7 Benin0.933 8 Chad0.933 9 South Sudan0.929 10 Uganda0.929 11 Kenya0.927 12 Mozambique0.926 13 Liberia0.917 14 India0.914 15 Togo0.905 16 Ivory Coast0.900 17 Nigeria0.890 18 Mali0.873 19 South Africa0.871 20 Tanzania0.871 21 Ethiopia0.862 22 Guinea-Bissau0.859 23 Ghana0.858 24 Gabon0.846 25 Philippines0.842 26 Sierra Leone0.841 27 Zambia0.830 28 Bhutan0.827 29 Qatar0.825 30 Republic of the Congo0.821 31 East Timor0.819 32 Indonesia0.816 33 Sint Maarten0.816 34 Afghanistan0.790 35 Madagascar0.789 36 Namibia0.779 37 Senegal0.778 38 The Gambia0.776 39 Iraq0.761 40 Singapore0.761 41 Nepal0.755 42 Pakistan0.752 43 Thailand0.752 44 Micronesia0.751 45 New Caledonia0.750 46 Angola0.748 47 Guinea0.748 48 Guam0.736 49 Malaysia0.735 50 Belize0.721 51 Burkina Faso0.721 52 Israel0.719 53 Northern Mariana Islands0.719 54 Suriname0.709 55 Caribbean Netherlands0.707 56 United Arab Emirates0.707 57 Belgium0.700 58 Oman0.698 59 Laos0.697 60 Bosnia and Herzegovina0.694 61 Malawi0.692 62 Saint Martin0.689 63 Switzerland0.683 64 Tokelau0.679 65 Eritrea0.672 66 Andorra0.671 67 Bahrain0.658 68 Monaco0.652 69 Iran0.638 70 Fiji0.632 71 São Tomé and Príncipe0.630 72 Luxembourg0.622 73 Kuwait0.605 74 Canada0.603 75 Trinidad and Tobago0.599 76 Zimbabwe0.597 77 Yemen0.581 78 Niger0.571 79 Brunei0.570 80 Bolivia0.565 81 Comoros0.551 82 Georgia0.550 83 United States Virgin Islands0.550 84 French Guiana0.549 85 Wallis and Futuna0.548 86 Libya0.538 87 Latvia0.526 88 Myanmar0.522 89 China0.521 90 Guatemala0.518 91 Antigua and Barbuda0.515 92 Guyana0.514 93 Kazakhstan0.514 94 Egypt0.512 95 Gibraltar0.511 96 The Bahamas0.509 97 Djibouti0.504 98 Albania0.503 99 Barbados0.500 100 British Virgin Islands0.500 101 Jordan0.498 102 North Macedonia0.495 103 Taiwan0.489 104 Ukraine0.489 105 Nauru0.487 106 Cayman Islands0.475 107 Estonia0.473 108 Palau0.470 109 Uzbekistan0.466 110 French Polynesia0.463 111 Morocco0.461 112 Italy0.460 113 Kyrgyzstan0.459 114 Marshall Islands0.457 115 Turkmenistan0.457 116 Réunion0.452 117 Sri Lanka0.446 118 Cyprus0.444 119 Mayotte0.438 120 Aruba0.429 121 Saudi Arabia0.427 122 Belarus0.411 123 Netherlands0.405 124 Lithuania0.404 125 Botswana0.397 126 Moldova0.389 127 Syria0.363 128 Algeria0.360 129 Somalia0.350 130 Turkey0.345 131 Peru0.339 132 Germany0.336 133 United States0.333 134 Norfolk Island0.325 135 Bangladesh0.318 136 Dominica0.313 137 Sudan0.307 138 Palestine0.303 139 New Zealand0.291 140 Panama0.287 141 Curaçao0.285 142 Equatorial Guinea0.284 143 Russia0.283 144 Spain0.276 145 Tajikistan0.276 146 Australia0.274 147 Vietnam0.267 148 Malta0.255 149 Macau0.253 150 France0.252 151 Slovakia0.247 152 Montenegro0.244 153 Saint Barthélemy0.244 154 Austria0.234 155 Cook Islands0.232 156 Mauritania0.228 157 Bulgaria0.226 158 Sweden0.226 159 Serbia0.224 160 Mauritius0.216 161 Paraguay0.215 162 American Samoa0.210 163 Swaziland0.209 164 Hong Kong0.205 165 Azerbaijan0.202 166 Lebanon0.198 167 Greenland0.196 168 Niue0.192 169 Ecuador0.182 170 Mongolia0.179 171 Samoa0.174 172 Finland0.172 173 Slovenia0.167 174 Argentina0.165 175 United Kingdom0.154 176 Romania0.153 177 Turks and Caicos Islands0.146 178 Anguilla0.141 179 Jersey0.136 180 Greece0.123 181 Tunisia0.122 182 Ireland0.118 183 Seychelles0.116 184 Uruguay0.111 185 Saint Pierre and Miquelon0.110 186 Mexico0.106 187 Croatia0.102 188 Cambodia0.101 189 Brazil0.099 190 Liechtenstein0.092 191 Lesotho0.091 192 Denmark0.089 193 Rwanda0.089 194 Guadeloupe0.083 195 Bermuda0.076 196 Czech Republic0.072 197 Norway0.067 198 Portugal0.066 199 Grenada0.064 200 Puerto Rico0.060 201 Armenia0.053 202 Nicaragua0.052 203 Montserrat0.050 204 Poland0.050 205 Martinique0.043 206 Dominican Republic0.040 207 Venezuela0.040 208 Honduras0.039 209 Chile0.036 210 Costa Rica0.036 211 Japan0.035 212 Hungary0.033 213 Tonga0.029 214 Saint Lucia0.020 215 Tuvalu0.020 216 Colombia0.019 217 Kiribati0.019 218 Jamaica0.017 219 Saint Kitts and Nevis0.012 220 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines0.010 221 South Korea0.010 222 Burundi0.007 223 Guernsey0.007 224 Iceland0.007 225 El Salvador0.003 226 Cuba0.001 227 Haiti0.000 228 Isle of Man0.000 229 San Marino0.000 230 Vatican City0.000 231 British Indian Ocean Territory0.000 232 North Korea0.000 | Rank Country / region LDI 1 Papua New Guinea.990 2 Vanuatu.972 3 Solomon Islands.965 4 Tanzania.965 5 Central African Republic.960 6 Chad.950 7 Democratic Republic of the Congo.948 8 Cameroon.942 9 India.930 10 Mozambique.929 11 Uganda.928 12 Gabon.919 13 Côte d'Ivoire.917 14 Liberia.912 15 Angola.901 16 Kenya.901 17 Togo.897 18 Timor-Leste.897 19 Mali.876 20 Nigeria.870 21 South Africa.869 22 Zambia.855 23 Guinea-Bissau.853 24 Philippines.849 25 Bhutan.846 26 Indonesia.846 27 Ethiopia.843 28 Republic of the Congo.820 29 Sierra Leone.817 30 Namibia.808 31 Ghana.805 32 Iran.797 33 Micronesia.792 34 Suriname.788 35 Benin.785 36 United Arab Emirates.777 37 Burkina Faso.773 38 Senegal.772 39 Pakistan.762 40 Malaysia.758 41 Thailand.753 42 Eritrea.749 43 Gambia.748 44 Guinea.748 45 Singapore.748 46 Nepal.742 47 Belgium.734 48 Afghanistan.732 49 Kazakhstan.701 50 Trinidad and Tobago.696 51 Belize.693 52 Oman.693 53 Guatemala.691 54 Bolivia.680 55 Laos.678 56 Kyrgyzstan.670 57 Jordan.666 58 Israel.665 59 Bahrain.663 60 Norway.657 61 Madagascar.656 62 Niger.646 63 Mauritius.641 64 Saudi Arabia.609 65 Qatar.608 66 Fiji.607 67 Nauru.596 68 Latvia.595 69 Italy.593 70 Djibouti.592 71 Moldova.589 72 Sudan.587 73 Yemen.579 74 Georgia.576 75 Andorra.574 76 North Macedonia.566 77 Kuwait.556 78 Comoros.551 79 Canada.549 80 Switzerland.547 81 Cayman Islands.547 82 Austria.540 83 Zimbabwe.526 84 Monaco.521 85 Myanmar.521 86 Malawi.519 87 Egypt.509 88 Syria.503 89 Luxembourg.498 90 Gibraltar.498 91 San Marino.494 92 Ukraine.492 93 China.491 94 Iraq.484 95 Tajikistan.482 96 Estonia.476 97 Morocco.466 98 Brunei.456 99 Equatorial Guinea.453 100 Botswana.444 101 Spain.438 102 Uzbekistan.428 103 Bosnia and Herzegovina.416 104 Belarus.397 105 Netherlands.389 106 Sao Tome and Principe.389 107 Aruba.387 108 Bahamas.386 109 Turkmenistan.386 110 Cook Islands.379 111 Peru.376 112 Azerbaijan.373 113 Cyprus.366 114 Libya.362 115 Serbia.359 116 United States.353 117 Paraguay.347 118 Lithuania.339 119 Bangladesh.332 120 Mongolia.331 121 Panama.324 122 Dominica.313 123 Algeria.313 124 Sri Lanka.313 125 Slovakia.307 126 Turkey.289 127 Russia.283 128 France.272 129 Netherlands Antilles.266 130 Ecuador.264 131 Lesotho.260 132 Albania.257 133 Vietnam.234 134 Swaziland.228 135 Bulgaria.224 136 Ireland.223 137 Argentina.213 138 Palestine.208 139 Germany.189 140 Somalia.179 141 Greece.175 142 Slovenia.174 143 Armenia.174 144 Mauritania.172 145 Romania.168 146 Sweden.167 147 British Virgin Islands.167 148 Lebanon.161 149 Hungary.158 150 Cambodia.157 151 Turks and Caicos Islands.145 152 Anguilla.140 153 Finland.140 154 Tuvalu.139 155 United Kingdom.139 156 Mexico.135 157 Liechtenstein.128 158 Australia.126 159 New Zealand.102 160 Uruguay.092 161 Barbados.091 162 Croatia.087 163 Nicaragua.081 164 Guyana.078 165 Palau.077 166 Niue.071 167 Cape Verde.070 168 Czech Republic.069 169 Seychelles.067 170 Grenada.064 171 Poland.060 172 Antigua and Barbuda.057 173 Honduras.056 174 Tokelau.054 175 Dominican Republic.053 176 Denmark.051 177 Costa Rica.050 178 Chile.034 179 Kiribati.033 180 Brazil.032 181 Colombia.030 182 Japan.028 183 Marshall Islands.027 184 Montserrat.026 185 Venezuela.026 186 Portugal.022 187 Saint Lucia.020 188 Iceland.019 189 Malta.016 190 Tonga.014 191 Tunisia.012 192 Jamaica.011 193 Saint Kitts and Nevis.010 194 Maldives.010 195 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.009 196 El Salvador.004 197 Burundi.004 198 Rwanda.004 199 South Korea.003 200 Samoa.002 201 Cuba.001 202 Haiti.000 203 Saint HelenaNone 204 Vatican CityNone 205 MontenegroNone 206 BermudaNone 207 Hong KongNone 208 MacauNone 209 North KoreaNone |