Introduction

When the original edition of this atlas, the first attempt at a comprehensive mapping of all of the world's languages in a single volume, was published in 1994, the possible need in due course for a revised edition, resulting for example from the discovery of new languages, was envisaged. The atlas is divided into eight regions, namely: The Americas, Australasia and the Pacific, East and South-East Asia, Southern Asia, Northern Asia and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The first of these regions is once again subdivided into three sections: North America, followed by Meso-America and South America. The first of these regions is once again subdivided into three sections: North America, followed by Meso-America and South America. The areas where different languages are spoken are delineated with a boundary line, and the space encompassed by the line is numbered.