Why there are so many languages spoken in some places, and very few in others

Languages spoken widely, and languages scarcely spoken 

In this article, it talks about the reasons how some languages become spoken less around different areas and how there truly isn't one single reason to why these languages less and/or more spoken around the world. Both of the authors, Coelho and Gavin, express in the first part of the article that collectively human beings speak around 7,000 distinct languages, and that all of them are not very evenly distributed around our planet. An example given was that, far more languages are spoken in tropical regions than temperate areas. 
Some of the possible theories in the article were all based on the fundamental basis that, "languages are markers of social boundaries between human groups. People who speak the same language share a common means of communication." One of the three theories given was that physical barriers create boundaries between human groups. An example they gave in the article was that if one group of people move to the other side of a mountain range, it creates a barrier between both groups, and they cannot communicate compared to how they did before. Over time, if these two groups remain separated from one another, their languages should be expected to diverge in various ways.
What I had found out from this article that, I had truly never known how many languages were actually spoken all around the world, as I'm only exposed to a few within my daily life. I also never knew that there was such a large part of linguistics dedicated to the research of the history of why such languages are spoken more in different areas, and I wasn't aware specific theories dedicated to that topic as well.

As i went and researched this further, I came across some articles listing some more reasons and theories for why some languages grow to have more speakers and why some die out, or get less spoken across and throughout different areas of the world. Another article I had read had said that, "Languages gain speakers when the original speakers: raise children to speak their language, and become a cultural influence on other communities. Languages lose speakers when the original speakers: pass away, and diverge into two different groups whose languages change and differentiate from the other over time, resulting in the two groups then not being able to speak to one another." One of the examples given in this other article was of Spanish. At first, the language had just started in Spain, and then eventually spread across the world. This happened because the Spanish conquered other groups and imposed their language. This had resulted in raising their children in a Spanish-speaking environment, because their population grew into the new territories they had conquered. The second example that was also given in this same article was of Welsh, which was more widely spoken in and around Wales, but the number of speakers is now a lot less. Many people who once spoke Welsh now speak English in their daily lives and in turn, cannot or just don't speak and teach Welsh to their children. One similarity I had found between these two articles, and many of the other websites I had researched on, is the theory that, "The number of people who speak a language depends on the rise and fall of the community that speaks that language." This being the theory that makes the most sense to me, and it is why I think some languages are spoken more in some areas around the world, and why some languages are spoken less in some areas as well.

 Sources:
https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/1847/why-do-some-languages-have-more-speakers-than-others
https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-languages-spoken-in-some-places-and-so-few-in-others-116573

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