Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla in Europe are Romance, Germanic, and Slavic; they have more than 200 million speakers each and together account for close to 90% of Europeans. Smaller phyla of Indo-European found in Europe include Hellenic, Baltic, Albanian, Celtic, and Armenian ; Indo-Aryan, though a large subfamily of Indo-European, has a relatively small number of speakers in Europe.
New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre "Le Caillou".
The geography of New Caledonia (Nouvelle-Calédonie), an overseas collectivity of France located in the subregion of Melanesia, makes the continental island group unique in the southwest Pacific. Among other things, the island chain has played a role in preserving unique biological lineages from the Mesozoic. It served as a waystation in the expansion of the predecessors of the Polynesians, the Lapita culture. Under the Free French it was a vital naval base for Allied Forces during the War in the Pacific.
Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from the region and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, while Kongo still is spoken in the above-mentioned countries, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of Afro-American religions, especially in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah language and the Palenquero creole in Colombia. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo, with perhaps two million more who use it as a second language.
The Nemadi are small hunting tribe of eastern Mauritania. Their language is according to some sources a dialect of Hassaniyya, according to others a mixture of Zenaga, Soninke and Hassaniyya. The name "Nemadi" itself appears to come from Soninke, where it means "master of dogs".
The thirty New Caledonian languages form a branch of the Southern Oceanic languages. Their speakers are known as Kanaks. One language is extinct, one is critically endangered, 4 are severely endangered, 5 are endangered, and another 5 are vulnerable to extinction.
Paicî is the most widely spoken of the two dozen languages on the main island of New Caledonia. It is spoken in a band across the center of the island, from Poindimié to Ponérihouen.
Ajië is an Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia. It has approximately 4,000 speakers.
Iaai is a language of Ouvéa Island. It shares the island of Ouvéa with Fagauvea, a Polynesian outlier language.
Tayo, also known as "patois de Saint-Louis", is a French-based Creole spoken in New Caledonia. It is spoken by about 3000 people in the village of Saint-Louis, about 15 km (9.3 mi) from the New Caledonian capital Nouméa. The language developed out of the contact of speakers of many different Kanak languages in the mission, and the use of French for official purposes and as the language of prestige. The language contains structural elements primarily from Melanesian languages and lexical elements mainly from French.
The University of New Caledonia UNC is a French university which is part of the Academy of New Caledonia located in Nouméa and Koné.
Cèmuhî is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of New Caledonia, in the area of Poindimié, Koné, and Touho. The language has approximately 3,300 speakers and is considered a regional language of France.
Xârâcùù, or Kanala, is an Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia. It has about 5,000 speakers. Xârâcùù is most commonly spoken in the south Central area of New Caledonia in and around the city of Canala and the municipalities of Canala, Thio, and Boulouparis.
The Nemi language is a Kanak language spoken by 320 people in the north of New Caledonia, in the commune of Hienghène. Dialects include Ouanga, Ouélis, and Kavatch.
Françoise Ozanne-Rivierre (1941–2007) was a French linguist based at LACITO–CNRS, well known for her work on the languages of New Caledonia.
Pije (Pinje) is a Kanak language of New Caledonia, in the commune of Hienghène.
Jawe is one of the Kanak languages spoken in the northern province of the largest island of New Caledonia named Grande Terre. Jawe speakers are located along the northeast coast of the island, north of Hienghène and south of Pouébo; primarily in the Cascada de Tao region, Tchambouenne, and in the upper valleys of both sides of the centrally dividing mountain range.
Fwâi (Poai) is a Kanak language of New Caledonia, in the commune of Hienghène.
Nyelâyu (Yâlayu), also known as Nyalâyu, is a Kanak language of northern New Caledonia, spoken by approximately 2,000 speakers. There are two dialects that are not mutually intelligible. Pooc is spoken in the Belep islands, which are located just north of Grande Terre. Puma is spoken in the northernmost regions of New Caledonia in the areas around Poum in the west and Pouébo and Balade in the east.
Caac or Caaàc, Caawac, Moenebeng, Mwelebeng is a Kanak language of northern New Caledonia. As of 2009, there were 1,170 reported speakers of Caac. The primary Caac-speaking population center is the village of Pouebo, which is located on the northeastern coast of Grande Terre in the region of Hoot ma Waap. Caac is classified as an Extreme Northern New Caledonian language. Its closest linguistic relatives are also its closest geographic relatives which include Nêlêmwa-Nixumwak, Yuanga and Nyâlayu.
