Russian Language Speakers by Country – World Map and List
When you want to learn Russian, it’s important to realize that there are a huge number of Russian speakers in the world. There are many places you can visit to get plenty of practice. Hopefully this information will make that much easier.
Native Russian Speakers Map:
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=48428
Total Russian Language Speakers: 260 million
Speakers 1st Language: 150 million
Speakers 2nd Language: 110 million
Russian Language Speakers by Country: 1st Language
Country | Speakers | Percentage | Year | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Russian Federation | 137,494,893 | 96.2% | 2010 | [47] |
2. Ukraine | 14,273,670 | 29.6% | 2001 | [47] |
3. Belarus | 6,672,964 | 70.2% | 2009 | [47] |
4. Israel[note 1] | 1,155,960 | 15% | 2011 | [48] |
5. United States | 879,434 | 0.3% | 2013 | [50] |
6. Latvia | 557 119 | 26.7% | 2011 | [47] |
7. Kyrgyzstan | 482,200 | 8.9% | 2009 | [49] |
8. Estonia | 383,118 | 29.6% | 2011 | [47] |
9. Moldova | 380,796 | 11.3% | 2004 | [47] |
10. Lithuania | 218,383 | 7.2% | 2011 | [47] |
11. Azerbaijan | 122,449 | 1.4% | 2009 | [47] |
12. Canada | 112,150 | 0.3% | 2011 | [47] |
13. Finland | 54,559 | 1.0% | 2010 | [47] |
14. Australia | 44,058 | 0.2% | 2012 | [47] |
15. Tajikistan | 40,598 | 0.5% | 2012 | [47] |
16. Czech Republic | 31,622 | 0.3% | 2011 | [47] |
17. Romania | 29,246 | 0.1% | 2002 | [47] |
18. Armenia | 23,484 | 0.8% | 2011 | [47] |
19. Poland | 21,916 | 0.1% | 2011 | [47] |
20. Cyprus | 20,984 | 2.5% | 2011 | [47] |
21. Norway | 16,833 | 0.3% | 2012 | [47] |
22. Georgia | 16,355 | 0.4% | 2002 | [47] |
23. Austria | 8,446 | 0.1% | 2001 | [47] |
24. New Zealand | 7,896 | 0.2% | 2006 | [47] |
25. Serbia | 3,179 | 0.04% | 2011 | [47] |
26. Slovakia | 1,866 | 0.03% | 2001 | [47] |
27. Croatia | 1,592 | 0.04% | 2011 | [47] |
The above graph only talks about native Russian language speakers. After spending quite a bit of time in Ukraine I can tell you that about 90% of the population speak Russian, but only 30$ report it as their first language.