Genetik
Genetik/Peoples/Bengalis

Bengalis

Бенгальцы

language area per Glottologcensus counts
26,900
Pakistan, census 2023 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
40,700
sum of censuses in 2 countries, 2021-2023
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Pakistan: 26,900 people in the 2023 census.

Official figures exist for 2 countries; together they add up to 40,700. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2021-2023) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

Main language: Bengali. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Pakistan2023 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Bengali» · [1]
26,900
Nepal2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Bengali» · [2]
13,800
Sum across 2 countries40,700

Languages and their lineage

Bengali

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Indo-Iranianindo1320
  4. Indo-Aryanindo1321
  5. Middle-Modern Indo-Aryanmidd1375
  6. Continental Indo-Aryancont1248
  7. Indo-Aryan Eastern zoneindo1323
  8. Oriya-Gauda-Kamrupaoriy1254
  9. Gauda-Kamrupagaud1237
  10. Gauda-Bangagaud1238
  11. Bengalibeng1280

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Sources

  1. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Pakistan, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Nepal, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)