Languages
Native
Spanish
60%
Quechua
21%
Aymara
15%
Language Samples
Hola, ¿cómo estás?
Hello, how are you?
Estoy muy bien, gracias.
I am very well, thanks.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Linguistic History
Bolivia is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in South America, recognising 36 official languages under its 2009 constitution — a world record for co-official languages in a single country. Spanish was introduced by Spanish colonisers in the 16th century, but the pre-Columbian languages Quechua (the tongue of the Inca Empire) and Aymara (spoken around Lake Titicaca) have remained vibrant, each with millions of speakers. Aymara is particularly distinctive, having a unique three-valued logic embedded in its grammar.
Similar Languages
Spanish (Peru)
97%
Spanish (Ecuador)
96%
Portuguese
89%
Italian
82%
Media
Salar de Uyuni — the world's largest salt flat, in the heartland of Aymara and Quechua speakers
Photo: Iván Loire · CC BY 2.0
Did You Know
01
Bolivia's 2009 constitution recognises 36 co-official languages — more than any other country on Earth.
02
Aymara has a unique spatial conception of time: speakers gesture backward for the future and forward for the past, since the past is what you can 'see'.
03
Quechua was the administrative language of the Inca Empire and today has more speakers than any other Indigenous language in the Americas.