English and Spanish are the top two languages spoken in the Salt Lake City-Ogden metro area. But the metro area ranks first in the nation in percentage of Tongan speakers, according to a new report based on Census 2000 by the U.S. English Foundation.
The 4,575 people who speak Tongan at home make up 0.52 percent of the population in the metro area. That's a higher proportion than any of the other 203 metropolitan statistical areas included in the report, "Many Languages, One America."
The full report is available at www.usefoundation.org.
The Salt Lake City-Ogden area ranked 28th nationwide in the number of languages spoken at home. The study also found the most linguistically diverse county in Utah was Salt Lake County, with 79 different languages reported.
Mauro E. Mujica, chairman of the U.S. English Foundation, said it's important to remember that although the nation's most spoken languages are English, Spanish and French, there are more than 300 languages spoken here.
"The fact that we have maintained our ability to communicate is a testament to the dedication of the American people to remember what unites instead of what divides," Mujica said in a statement.
In Utah, the most common languages spoken at home were English, with nearly 1.8 million speakers, Spanish, with 150,245 speakers, and German, with 12,095 speakers.
Utah has the highest percentage of speakers of Afrikaans, Danish and Ute in the United States and ranks second in the percentage of Bantu, Dutch, Paiute, Romany, Swedish and Tongan speakers.
Tracie Cayford, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development, said the report confirms the state has a significant Pacific Islander community.
"The Pacific Islander community very much wants to blend in with the local community and also retain its native heritage," she said.
The same could also be said for Utah's other ethnic groups, she added.
"The population is more diverse than people think," she said. "When we go out and promote Utah, we talk about ethnic diversity. We're not sure people always believe us when we tell them Utah has many cultures. This confirms what we've been telling the world, that the world is welcome in Utah."
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com