5 of the World’s Least Spoken Languages in 2025

Linguistically, the world is dominated by a small group of major languages spoken by billions, like Chinese, English, Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu. But with over 7,000 languages spoken globally today, not every language has millions of speakers. In fact, some are spoken by just one person.

These languages, often passed down orally through generations, face extinction as their final speakers age without successors. But thanks to the efforts of linguists and cultural preservationists, the stories behind these rare tongues still survive for now.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the world’s least spoken languages in 2025, many of which are on the verge of disappearing entirely.

Quick Summary: 5 of the World’s Least Spoken Languages (2025)

• Ongota (Ethiopia) – Estimated <10 speakers (likely extinct)
  
• Taushiro (Peru) – 1 speaker
  
• Tanema (Solomon Islands) – 1 speaker
  
• Lemerig (Vanuatu) – 2 speakers
  
• Njerep (Nigeria) – Possibly extinct
  

What are the world’s least spoken languages?

Taushiro (Peru)

Taushiro, also known as Pinche or Pinchi, is one of the world’s most endangered languages. As of 2025, it is believed to be spoken by just one person, Amadeo García García, who lives in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon near the border with Ecuador.

García has long been recognized as the last fluent speaker of Taushiro, and efforts have been made by Peru’s Ministry of Culture to preserve the language. Linguists have worked with him to create a record of over 1,500 words, 27 stories, and three traditional songs, ensuring that the language won’t be entirely lost even if it is no longer spoken in daily life.

Despite these efforts, Taushiro remains critically endangered, a living example of how languages can vanish within a single generation.

Tanema (Solomon Islands)

Also known as Tetawo, the Tanema language is again only spoken by one person, Lainol Nalo, on the island of Vanikoro, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.  The population of the island is around 150, most of whom speak the related language of Tetau and speak some Tanema as a second language.

Lemerig (Vanuatu)

Lemerig has a whopping 200% more fluent speakers than Tanema and Taushiro, being spoken by a whole two people on the tiny island of Vanuatu. Lemerig used to be the most command language on the island until it was slowly replaced by Mwotlap and Vera’a, which, you will be unsurprised to learn, are only spoken by about 2000 people in total.

Njerep (Nigeria)

Njerep is the spoken language of an ethnic group of the same name living in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of Africa’s most ethnically diverse countries, with many small ethnic groups and the Njerep people are one of the smallest, consisting of just six members. 

Because of the diminutive size of the group and its position relative to the much larger dominant Mambilla ethnolinguistic group, Ethnologue has classified Njerep as “nearly extinct.”

Ongota (Ethiopia)

Ongota is one of the rarest and most endangered languages in the world. Spoken in a small agrarian village along the west bank of the Weito River in southern Ethiopia, Ongota has long been at risk of disappearing.

As of 2025, the language is considered critically endangered, with estimates suggesting that only one or two semi-fluent speakers may still be alive, although this has not been officially confirmed in recent field reports.

In earlier decades, the language was spoken by a small ethnic community, but Ts’amakko, the dominant regional language, has largely replaced it. The Ongota people themselves now use Ts’amakko for daily communication, and the younger generations do not speak Ongota at all.

Although researchers have documented the language’s structure and vocabulary, Ongota is now regarded as moribund, with its last traces preserved in linguistic archives rather than spoken conversation.

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