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Principal language families of the world (and in some cases geographic groups of families). For greater detail, see Distribution of languages in the world. This is a list of languages by total number of speakers. It is difficult to define what constitutes a language as opposed to a dialect.
With over 237 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2024, [1] Bengali is the fifth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. [7] [8] It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language. [9]
In 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February as International Mother Language Day, in tribute to the Language Movement and the ethnolinguistic rights of people around the world. [177] Kolkata Book Fair is the world's largest non-trade and the most attended book fair, where people from different countries gather together. [178]
The Saimum Series (Bengali: সাইমুম সিরিজ) is a novel series from Bangladesh written by Abul Asad. He published the first book in the Saimum Series, titled Operation Tel Aviv ( Bengali : অপারেশন তেলআবিব-১ ), in 1976.
The series introduced the Wild West to the Bengali language. Aleyar Pichche (Behind the Light) was the first Western adapted book in Bangla, written by Qazi Mahbub Hossain. The series was also quite successful and ran to several dozen titles. Other popular contributors in this series include Saokot Hossain and Rowshan Jamil.
The first Bangla novelists were Peary Chand Mitra (1814–1883) and Kali Prasanna Singha (1840–1870). [3] Under the pen name of 'Tekchand Thakur, Peary Chand Mitra wrote the first Bengali novel Alaler Gharer Dulal (1858).
Spoken Bengali exhibits far more variation than written Bengali. Formal spoken Bengali, including what is heard in news reports, speeches, announcements, and lectures, is modelled on Choltibhasha. This form of spoken Bengali stands alongside other spoken dialects, or Ancholik Bangla (আঞ্চলিক বাংলা) (i.e. 'regional Bengali').
According to a 2022 census, Bengali is predominantly spoken by 99% of the country's population and it also serves as the national language of the nation. The indigenous people of northern and southeastern Bangladesh speak a variety of native languages.