Quizzes
More
Create
en
-1

15 Most Populous Countries that Speak a Romance Language

Can you name the most populous countries where a majority of the residents are native speakers of a language derived from Latin?
Population estimates: July 2020, Worldometers
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: March 6, 2020
More quiz info >>
First submittedNovember 27, 2017
Times taken44,946
Rating4.68
Quiz and answer stats >>
Friends stats >>
2:00
Give Up?
Enter answer here
0
 / 15 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Population
Country
212 m
Brazil
129 m
Mexico
67.5 m
France
60.5 m
Italy
50.9 m
Colombia
46.8 m
Spain
45.2 m
Argentina
33.0 m
Peru
Population
Country
28.4 m
Venezuela
19.2 m
Romania
19.1 m
Chile
17.9 m
Guatemala
17.6 m
Ecuador
11.7 m
Bolivia
11.4 m
Haiti
JWC1202
+95
Level 71
Dec 3, 2017
Poor Portugal is responsible for the language that makes the top of the list even though it does not make the top 15 itself.
sealsi6
+25
Level 56
Dec 11, 2017
rip
portugal
+32
Level 41
Dec 11, 2017
yeh, we are only 10 million people :)
epicdjyoshi
+4
Level 31
Dec 31, 2017
Lol I thought that too
Sifhraven
+1
Level 67
Jan 16, 2019
yup exactly what I was gonna say
RogerMellie
+2
Level 27
Jul 1, 2020
I tried it three times thinking there must be a typo, before I realised it's actually quite small.
Xenobiologista
+1
Level 59
Nov 23, 2020
I always forget this, and it weirds me out that Spain has so many more people than Portugal.
OldDakile2nd
+1
Level 61
Apr 29, 2021
Just write all South American countries which u know and a couple of European and that's it XD
MarlowePI
+27
Level 70
Dec 11, 2017
Oh, for crying out loud. I got so focused on remembering all of Latin America I forgot friggin' SPAIN.
Rymarz
+3
Level 57
Dec 11, 2017
Me too - very frustrating!
fitheach
+3
Level 58
Dec 11, 2017
Yep, and me.
Jakob550
+4
Level 52
Jan 8, 2020
I forgot Romania rip
orejasgrandes
+1
Level 28
Mar 29, 2020
Yep, same.
PolskaStronk
+14
Level 59
Dec 11, 2017
What about Angola, Mozambique, Niger, DRC, etc?
EvaR
+17
Level 65
Dec 11, 2017
I think in those countries is Portuguese an official language, but most people have their tribal languages as their first language
Sulps
+9
Level 59
Dec 11, 2017
In Niger and DRC the official language if French. Nonetheless, tribal languages are the first language of most people there too.
tshalla
+20
Level 72
Dec 11, 2017
True, although they are no more "tribal" than Italian and French.
JackintheBox
+2
Level 74
Mar 7, 2020
Many people in those countries speak a Romance language (e.g. French, Portuguese) but have a tribal language as their native tongue (which is what this quiz is about).
giuliano78
+3
Level 60
Jun 29, 2020
but if that is the reasoning, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia have their indigenous languages too. In Peru, Quechua is an official language
jmellor13
+5
Level 66
Jun 29, 2020
I don't think the reasoning is as simple as whether there are more native languages than the Romance language, but how many people in a given country speak the Romance language as a native tongue. Yes, Peru has Quechua, but most of Peru's residents speak the Romance language (i.e., Spanish) as their first language. That is not the case in many of the African countries cited in the comments.
CapitalAce
+1
Level 59
Jun 29, 2020
It may be an official language, but a majority of the people there do not speak Spanish or French or Portuguese as a native language.
divantilya
+3
Level 37
Dec 11, 2017
Seems to have skipped over Hispaniola (Dominican Republic & Haiti) completely. Surely the number of people on this island for whom Spanish and French is their first language trumps any African nation with the possible exception of Cote d'ivoire.
Walacama
+7
Level 77
Dec 11, 2017
But the quiz is "most populous" nations. The DR only has 10 mill so it just misses getting on this quiz.
tshalla
+3
Level 72
Dec 11, 2017
And I think Creole is the first language of most Haitians.
fitheach
+1
Level 58
Dec 12, 2017
(thinking out loud) - Are creoles categorized by their parent language (in this case French, and so Romance) or are they in a separate category? Really don't know.
1800didiaskyoutho
+3
Level 45
Dec 15, 2017
Yeah it is for us. But Creole is very similar to French, the only thing is Creole also has Spanish, African dialect, and some of the language of the native Taino Indians. But if you speak Creole, you can understand French for the most part and most Haitians are learning French now.
TomatosRaafatos
+4
Level 71
Jul 24, 2018
But likely native french speakers will have a hard time understanding creole.
komtvoordebakker
+3
Level 45
Jan 7, 2020
Native French speakers have a problem understanding Walloon, which is basically French. I think they also have a problem with the Canadian version of French.
tzhg
+1
Level 61
Jun 29, 2020
Walloon isn't "basically French". It's a different language, although it's part of the same family, the langues d'oïl. But not many people speak it these days. Most people in Wallonia now speak Belgian French, which is quite similar to "Standard" French.
redsplat
+1
Level 76
Jan 22, 2021
@komtvoordebakker Consider that many native French speakers *do* speak the Canadian version of French. I assume you are referring to speakers of "Metropolitan French" (aka Standard European French). Native speakers of Metropolitan French and Québécois French speakers generally understand each other well, but can run into trouble with idioms and slang (which happens across languages all the time of course).
Thomas739945
+2
Level 28
Feb 21, 2018
Haiti and the Dominican Republic do not have a high enough population to qualify on this quiz.
DeusCaritasEst
+4
Level 58
Dec 11, 2017
I could not think of the last one for the life of me, and then was shocked to see it was Romania--for about half a second, until I looked at the word "Romania." Oh. Duh.
stankyC
+8
Level 61
Dec 12, 2017
I kept wondering if Switzerland was the last slot on the list, thinking that surely there were at least 11m Swiss and that French, Italian, and Romansh speakers comprised at least half of them. Nope, wrong on both counts: population is only 8m, and German speakers are the majority. The More You Know!
Thomas739945
+1
Level 28
Feb 21, 2018
Either way, Switzerland still wouldn't have qualified for this quiz if it had a high enough population because the language most of the people speak is not a romance language.
Sifhraven
+14
Level 67
Mar 3, 2020
He just said that
Honk
+2
Level 30
Feb 21, 2018
I forgot France. Please send help.
ihaveanewname
+1
Level 85
Jun 26, 2018
The Who Speaks Spanish Quiz
EcceHomo
+2
Level 71
Mar 10, 2021
And French, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian.
Germanwolverine
+2
Level 60
Oct 25, 2018
Shouldn't Canada be here. They speak French in Quebec and they have like 35 million people
Sifhraven
+4
Level 67
Jan 16, 2019
Apparently it is not the majority. That is what the quiz asks for
JackintheBox
+3
Level 74
Feb 11, 2019
What about Haiti for French?
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Mar 6, 2020
No
JackintheBox
+9
Level 74
Mar 7, 2020
Then why is it on the quiz now??
samiamco
+2
Level 71
Mar 7, 2020
Maybe one of the South American countries sank?
flzubuduuz
+4
Level 67
Apr 30, 2020
Looking at other comments, I think Haiti replaced Belgium after the QM realized a majority of Belgians spoke Dutch, not French.
DieHardFoodie
+1
Level 34
Jan 7, 2020
official first language of Mozambique is Portuguese and they have 29 mil, incorrect quiz, sorry.
overtired
+6
Level 80
Jan 7, 2020
Wikipedia says the last census in 2017 found that about 47.3% of Mozambicans speak Portuguese though it is the most widely spoken language. And only 16.6% are native speakers of Portuguese, which the quiz asks for.
CapitalAce
+2
Level 59
Jan 8, 2020
It is the official language, but it is not the first language of most of the citizens.
DieHardFoodie
+4
Level 34
Jan 7, 2020
also Cameroon where 83% speak French and 17% speak English, their population is 24 million, which means nearly 20 million speak French. and the list goes on and on and on
Sifhraven
+6
Level 67
Mar 3, 2020
It think they "can" speak french, that doesnt mean it is their 1st language. Often I believe it is used as a lingua franca, the language they speak when two people have different first languages.
NauruPalau
+2
Level 52
Jan 7, 2020
Why are Cameron Algeria and DRC not on this?
CapitalAce
+4
Level 59
Jan 8, 2020
The number of native speakers is not high enough. A country can use a language as its official language without the majority of its people having it as a native language. 82% of the people in Cameroon do not speak French as native speakers, and few of them would be better at French than at their own language.
svelte
+1
Level 54
Jan 7, 2020
Algeria is most likely not on here because most of Algeria speaks Berber dialects as their first language, not French. It's probably the same deal for some of the other countries that have French and Portuguese as their languages such as Angola, Mozambique, and the DRC.
Djilas
+2
Level 79
Mar 6, 2020
Most speak Arabic as first language
Quizmaster
+14
Level ∞
Mar 6, 2020
Next person who asks why DRC, Mozambique, or other African countries are not included gets permabanned.
Jerry928
+4
Level 75
Mar 8, 2020
The problem is that there are different definitions of what constitutes a "native language". Wikipedia lists five:

Based on origin: the language(s) one learned first (the language(s) in which one has established the first long-lasting verbal contacts);

Based on internal identification: the language(s) one identifies with/as a speaker of;

Based on external identification: the language(s) one is identified with/as a speaker of, by others;

Based on competence: the language(s) one knows best:

Based on function: the language(s) one uses most.

Under some of these definitions, some African countries, including at least Angola, would qualify.

ander217
+2
Level 78
Jun 29, 2020
I'll miss reading your comments, Jerry.
TvB
+2
Level 76
Mar 6, 2020
Majority of Belgians are native Dutch speakers so Belgium does not fit the description of a country "where a majority of the residents are native speakers of a language derived from Latin".
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 6, 2020
Sorry about that. The Wikipedia article on Languages of Belgium had a confusing map. This has been fixed.
TheLastFish
+1
Level 68
Mar 6, 2020
I wonder which states are missing at all (not just top15). There are several American countries, Portugal, Andorra, San Marino, Vatican, Monaco, and Cape Verde. That's it?!
PeregrineFalcon
+1
Level 73
Aug 2, 2020
Also Moldova, Sao Tomé, Mauritius, Seychelles. But yeah I think that's all.
GreenFriday
+2
Level 80
Mar 7, 2020
So Haiti has overtaken Cuba as the most populous Caribbean nation this year, tripped me up.
AfonsoSilva
+3
Level 57
Mar 17, 2020
Angola is surely missing. A clear majority of people speak Portuguese.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Mar 17, 2020
Permabanned.
AfonsoSilva
+3
Level 57
Mar 18, 2020
Haha.

If you need a reference you can check the official report of the angolan 2014 census.

http://www.embajadadeangola.com/pdf/Publicacao%20Resultados%20Definitivos%20Censo%20Geral%202014_Versao%2022032016_DEFINITIVA%2018H17.pdf

Section 7.1.10 (p. 51) shows that 71% of Angolans speak Portuguese at home. The same census show that Angola has 25.8 million inhabitants.

Asterlan
+1
Level 56
Jun 11, 2021
It’s asking for native speakers, not how many people speak it.
Majax
+1
Level 48
Apr 6, 2020
Almost forgot Romania
julai
+2
Level 60
May 6, 2020
why aren't cameroon angola and drc there ???
julai
+3
Level 60
May 6, 2020
that was a joke pls don't attack me
Froststar101
+1
Level 70
Jun 29, 2020
I really did not expect Haiti to have a larger population than Cuba even though Cuba is four times larger in terms of area. This quiz's source gives Haiti a population that is larger than Cuba by only 75,000 people.
JonOfKent
+2
Level 49
Jun 29, 2020
Interesting quiz... although the title and the actual question don't quite match up...
Robis123
+2
Level 44
Jun 29, 2020
RIP Portugal!
MST
+3
Level 50
Jun 29, 2020
Angola?
TheHero
+1
Level 52
Jun 29, 2020
bruh i missed colombia but got peru and venezuela, what was i thinking
NTND
+1
Level 48
Jun 29, 2020
France, Italy and Spain: Are you Latin?

Romania: Da.

kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Jun 29, 2020
hm. I thought the Dominican Republic had more people than Haiti. I guess not. Close, though.
TheCrusher
+2
Level 73
Jun 29, 2020
It's the other way around for their capitals (metro areas, that is). Still, pretty damn close in both cases.
Juls211
+2
Level 54
Jun 29, 2020
What about DRC? Nearly 33 Million French speakers!
tzhg
+3
Level 61
Jun 29, 2020
That's not the majority of the country's population. And I think most of them aren't native speakers.
Gabisolarboy
+3
Level 52
Jun 29, 2020
What about DR Congo? It has a population of 84.07 million and they speak French.
JackClarke25
+2
Level 53
Jul 1, 2020
Yh I was thinking the same with Senegal and Ivory Coast, who knows.
ddddan
+1
Level 77
Jun 29, 2020
What about UK? ;)
AbhishekNS
+2
Level 54
Nov 6, 2020
English is a Germanic Language.
Yoshimano
+1
Level 60
Jun 30, 2020
0:25

Nice idea, thanks!

JackClarke25
+2
Level 53
Jul 1, 2020
Senegal speak French and hv a 16 mil population?
DivideXc
+1
Level 34
Sep 10, 2021
...I actually forgot mexico. why.
Similar Quizzes by Tag
Country
Geography
Language
Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2021
View Mobile Site