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One Look at This Map and You'll Probably Figure Out What It Shows. A Second Look Will Reveal Powerful Facts About the World.
Image via MoveHub

One Look at This Map and You'll Probably Figure Out What It Shows. A Second Look Will Reveal Powerful Facts About the World.

You can probably guess what the most commonly spoken language is in most countries around the world — the French speak French, the Japanese speak Japanese, the Spanish speak Spanish and so on.

But what about the second most-spoken languages?

MoveHub.com, a website geared towards helping people move to foreign countries, created a globe-spanning infographic showing what language occupies the No. 2 spot in every country — and the results reveal some interesting facts about the world we live in.

Image via Business Insider/MoveHub Image via Business Insider/MoveHub

The map of Europe's second languages reveals the widespread popularity of English, as well as some migration patterns: Seeking jobs in recent years, Polish immigrants have flocked to the U.K. and Turkish immigrants have moved in large numbers to the German-speaking nations of Germany and Austria.

In each case, the immigrants brought their languages with them en masse.

Image via Business Insider/MoveHub Image via Business Insider/MoveHub

North America's map is pretty predictable — Spanish in the U.S. and French in Canada — while South America's map shows the endurance of native tongues like Quechua and a fact that many Americans may not know: Argentina has a huge Italian population.

Image via Business Insider/MoveHub Image via Business Insider/MoveHub

North Africa and the Caribbean carry the legacy of colonial empires through lingering linguistic footprints, while sub-Saharan Africa is a patchwork of unique languages that demonstrate how big and diverse the continent really is.

Image via Business Insider/MoveHub Image via Business Insider/MoveHub

Like the map of Europe, the map of Asia shows the global influence of English, as well as depicting visually how people move around the world.

Saudi Arabia, which has attracted migrant workers from the Pacific, has the Filipino language Tagalog in the No. 2 spot, while Australia's prevalence of Mandarin-speakers shows how so many Chinese have been moving Down Under.

Image via Business Insider/MoveHub Image via Business Insider/MoveHub

Overall, English is far and away the biggest second language in the world.

Image via Business Insider/MoveHub Image via Business Insider/MoveHub

This story has been updated.

(H/T: Business Insider)

Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter

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