A. New York is really the melting pot of the world. Over 30 percent of its residents have come from abroad. It is believed that the city has the greatest linguistic diversity on the planet. There are over 800 different languages divided among its people. As some of these languages are nearly extinct, the City University of New York has begun a project called the Endangered Language Alliance. Its aim is to preserve rare languages like Bukhari, Vhlaski, and Ormuri.