Babel
Plotting the counting bases…

← Babel  ·  Counting Bases

An atlas of arithmetic

How the World Counts

A counting base is geography, not language. The way a tongue groups its numbers — by tens, by twenties, by fives — clusters into belts on the map that cut clean across family lines. A Welshman, a Basque, a Georgian and a Yoruba speaker share no ancestor, yet all count their eighties as four-twenties.

Loading coverage…

Lens

Each dot is one language at its homeland. Hover for its base; click to read its number ladder. Grey dots have coordinates but no numeral base documented in Numeralbank — shown as not documented, never assumed decimal.