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Facts about the Chinese Language
About one-fifth of the world speaks some form of Chinese as their native language, making it the language with the most native speakers. The Chinese language, spoken in the form of Standard Mandarin, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore, and one of six official languages of the United Nations.Spoken in: China (the PRC and the ROC), Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and other Chinese communities around the world
Total speakers: 1.2 billion
Genetic classification: Sino-Tibetan
Region: Covers all of mainland China north of the Changjiang River, a belt south of the Changjiang from Qiujiang (Jiangxi) to Zhenjiang (Jiangsu), Hubei except the south-eastern corner, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, the north-western part of Guangxi, and the north-western corner of Hunan.
Alternate names: MANDARIN, GUANHUA, BEIFANG FANGYAN, NORTHERN CHINESE, GUOYU, STANDARD CHINESE, PUTONGHUA
Dialects: HUABEI GUANHUA (NORTHERN MANDARIN), XIBEI GUANHUA (NORTHWESTERN MANDARIN), XINAN GUANHUA (SOUTHWESTERN MANDARIN), JINGHUAI GUANHUA (JIANGXIA GUANHUA, LOWER YANGZE MANDARIN).
Statistics:
Brunei: Chinese Hakka (5,253), Chinese Mandarin (9,848), Chinese Min Dong (6,566), Chinese Min Nan (12,147), Chinese Yue (5,909).
Cambogia: 350,000 (Mandarin Chinese)
Indonesia (Java and Bali): Hakka 640,000, Mandarin 460,000, Min Dong 20,000, Min Nan 700,000
Laos: ?
Malaysia (Peninsular): Hakka 985,635, Mandarin 417,070, Min Dong 222,185, Min Nan 1,946,698, Pu-Xian 66,655, Yue 748,010.
Mauritius: Hakka Chinese 35,000
Mongolia: Mandarin 35,000
Philippines: Mandarin 500 to 600, Min Nan 592,200, Yue 9,782
Russia (Asia): ?
Singapore: Hakka 69,000, Mandarin 201,000, Min Dong 34,154, Min Nan 1,170,000, Pu-Xian 14,083, Yue 314,000
Taiwan: Hakka 2,366,000, Mandarin 4,323,000, Min Nan 15,000,000
Thailand: Hakka 58,800, Mandarin 5,880, Min Nan 1,081,920, Yue 29,400
United Kingdom: Mandarin Chinese 12,000
USA: ?
Viet Nam: Yue 862,371
Total: 1.2 billion
Wenli is a literary form. Written Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect, but has been heavily influenced by other varieties of Northern Mandarin. Putonghua is the official form taught in schools. Hezhouhoua is spoken in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southern Gansu Province, and in neighbouring areas in Qinghai Province. The grammar is basically Altaic or Tibetan, while the vocabulary and phonology is basically Northwestern Mandarin, or a variety of Tibetan with a different lexis.