Part of a broader discussion of language policy, an official language is given a special legal status in a country, state or jurisdiction. Often, a nation’s official language refers to the language used within government. Selecting an official language is often contentious, so many countries have no official language. The United States has no official language at the Federal level. States, however, have legislated official languages. An alternative for many countries, though still contentious, includes official multilingualism.
Some countries have promoted indigenous languages. An official language that is also an indigenous language is called endoglossic, while one that is not indigenous is called exoglossic.
Below are the official, working and spoken languages of each country in the world.
| Country | Official Language | Other Languages |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | Dari, Pashto | Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism, but Dari functions as the lingua franca note: the Turkic languages Uzbek and Turkmen, as well as Balochi, Pashai, Nuristani, and Pamiri are the third official languages in areas where the majority speaks them |
| Albania | Albanian | Albanian 98.8% (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek 0.5%, other 0.6% (including Macedonian, Romani, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) |
| Algeria | Arabic | Arabic (official), French (lingua franca), Berber or Tamazight (official); dialects include Kabyle Berber (Taqbaylit), Shawiya Berber (Tacawit), Mzab Berber, Tuareg Berber (Tamahaq) |
| American Samoa | No Official Language | Samoan 88.6% (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English 3.9%, Tongan 2.7%, other Pacific islander 3%, other 1.8% |
| Andorra | Catalan | Catalan (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese |
| Angola | Portuguese | Portuguese 71.2% (official), Umbundu 23%, Kikongo 8.2%, Kimbundu 7.8%, Chokwe 6.5%, Nhaneca 3.4%, Nganguela 3.1%, Fiote 2.4%, Kwanhama 2.3%, Muhumbi 2.1%, Luvale 1%, other 3.6% |
| Anguilla | English | English (official) |
| Antigua and Barbuda | English | English (official), Antiguan creole |
| Argentina | Spanish | Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French, indigenous (Mapudungun, Quechua) |
| Armenia | Armenian | Armenian (official) 97.9%, Kurdish (spoken by Yezidi minority) 1%, other 1% (2011 est.) |
| Aruba | Papiamento, Dutch | Papiamento (official) (a creole language that is a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, and, to a lesser extent, French, as well as elements of African languages and the language of the Arawak) 69.4%, Spanish 13.7%, English (widely spoken) 7.1%, Dutch (official) 6.1%, Chinese 1.5%, other 1.7%, unspecified 0.4% (2010 est.) |
| Australia | No Official Language | English 76.8%, Mandarin 1.6%, Italian 1.4%, Arabic 1.3%, Greek 1.2%, Cantonese 1.2%, Vietnamese 1.1%, other 10.4%, unspecified 5% (2011 est.) |
| Austria | German | German (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene, official in South Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 est.) |
| Azerbaijan | Azeri | Azerbaijani (Azeri) (official) 92.5%, Russian 1.4%, Armenian 1.4%, other 4.7% (2009 est.) |
| Bahamas | English | English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants) |
| Bahrain | Arabic | Arabic (official), English, Farsi, Urdu |
| Bangladesh | Bengali | Bangla 98.8% (official, also known as Bengali), other 1.2% (2011 est.) |
| Barbados | English | English (official), Bajan (English-based creole language, widely spoken in informal settings) |
| Belarus | Russian, Belarusian | Russian (official) 70.2%, Belarusian (official) 23.4%, other 3.1% (includes small Polish- and Ukrainian-speaking minorities), unspecified 3.3% (2009 est.) |
| Belgium | Dutch, French, German | Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1% |
| Belize | English | English 62.9% (official), Spanish 56.6%, Creole 44.6%, Maya 10.5%, German 3.2%, Garifuna 2.9%, other 1.8%, unknown 0.3%, |
| Benin | French | French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north) |
| Bermuda | English | English (official), Portuguese |
| Bhutan | Dzongkha | Sharchhopka 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26% (includes foreign languages) (2005 est.) |
| Bolivia | Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani | Spanish (official) 60.7%, Quechua (official) 21.2%, Aymara (official) 14.6%, foreign languages 2.4%, Guarani (official) 0.6%, other native languages 0.4%, none 0.1% Note: note: Bolivia's 2009 constitution designates Spanish and all indigenous languages as official; 36 indigenous languages are specified, including some that are extinct (2001 est.) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian | Bosnian (official) 52.9%, Serbian (official) 30.8%, Croatian (official) 14.6%, other 1.6%, no answer 0.2% (2013 est.) |
| Botswana | English | Setswana 77.3%, Sekalanga 7.4%, Shekgalagadi 3.4%, English (official) 2.8%, Zezuru/Shona 2%, Sesarwa 1.7%, Sembukushu 1.6%, Ndebele 1%, other 2.8% (2011 est.) |
| Brazil | Portuguese | Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language) |
| British Virgin Islands | English | English (official) |
| Brunei | Malay | Malay (official), English, Chinese dialects |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian | Bulgarian (official) 76.8%, Turkish 8.2%, Romani 3.8%, other 0.7%, unspecified 10.5% (2011 est.) |
| Burkina Faso | French | French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population |
| Burma | Burmese | Burmese (official) |
| Burundi | Kirundi, French, English | Kirundi 29.7% (official), Kirundi and other language 9.1%, French (official) and French and other language 0.3%, Swahili and Swahili and other language 0.2% (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area), English (official) and English and other language 0.06%, more than 2 languages 3.7%, unspecified 56.9% |
| Cabo Verde | Portuguese | Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) |
| Cambodia | Khmer | Khmer (official) 96.3%, other 3.7% (2008 est.) |
| Cameroon | English, French | 24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official) |
| Canada | English, French | English (official) 58.7%, French (official) 22%, Punjabi 1.4%, Italian 1.3%, Spanish 1.3%, German 1.3%, Cantonese 1.2%, Tagalog 1.2%, Arabic 1.1%, other 10.5% (2011 est.) |
| Cayman Islands | English | English (official) 90.9%, Spanish 4%, Filipino 3.3%, other 1.7%, unspecified 0.1% (2010 est.) |
| Central African Republic | French | French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages |
| Chad | French, Arabic | French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects |
| Chile | Spanish | Spanish 99.5% (official), English 10.2%, indigenous 1% (includes Mapudungun, Aymara, Quechua, Rapa Nui), other 2.3%, unspecified 0.2% |
| China | Mandarin | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (official; Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) |
| Christmas Island | English | English (official), Chinese, Malay |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | No Official Language | Malay (Cocos dialect), English |
| Colombia | Spanish | Spanish (official) |
| Comoros | Arabic, French, Shikomoro | Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (official; a blend of Swahili and Arabic) (Comorian) |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | French | French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
| Republic of the Congo | French | French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread) |
| Cook Islands | English, Rarotongan | English (official) 86.4%, Cook Islands Maori (Rarotongan) (official) 76.2%, other 8.3% |
| Costa Rica | Spanish | Spanish (official), English |
| Cote d'Ivoire | French | French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken |
| Croatia | Croatian | Croatian (official) 95.6%, Serbian 1.2%, other 3% (including Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Albanian), unspecified 0.2% (2011 est.) |
| Cuba | Spanish | Spanish (official) |
| Curacao | Papiamento, Dutch | Papiamento (official) (a creole language that is a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, and, to a lesser extent, French, as well as elements of African languages and the language of the Arawak) 81.2%, Dutch (official) 8%, Spanish 4%, English (official) 2.9%, other 3.9% (2001 census) |
| Cyprus | Greek, Turkish | Greek (official) 80.9%, Turkish (official) 0.2%, English 4.1%, Romanian 2.9%, Russian 2.5%, Bulgarian 2.2%, Arabic 1.2%, Filipino 1.1%, other 4.3%, unspecified 0.6% |
| Czechia | Czech | Czech (official) 95.4%, Slovak 1.6%, other 3% (2011 census) |
| Denmark | Danish | Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority) |
| Dhekelia | English | English, Greek |
| Djibouti | French, Arabic | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar |
| Dominica | English | English (official), French patois |
| Dominican Republic | Spanish | Spanish (official) |
| Ecuador | Spanish | Spanish (Castilian) 93% (official), Quechua 4.1%, other indigenous 0.7%, foreign 2.2% |
| Egypt | Arabic | Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes |
| El Salvador | Spanish | Spanish (official), Nawat (among some Amerindians) |
| Equatorial Guinea | Spanish, French | Spanish (official) 67.6%, other (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) 32.4% (1994 census) |
| Eritrea | English, Tigrinya, Arabic | Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages |
| Estonia | Estonian | Estonian (official) 68.5%, Russian 29.6%, Ukrainian 0.6%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) |
| Ethiopia | Amharic, Oromo, Somali, Tigrinya, Afar | Oromo (official working language in the State of Oromiya) 33.8%, Amharic (official national language) 29.3%, Somali (official working language of the State of Sumale) 6.2%, Tigrigna (Tigrinya) (official working language of the State of Tigray) 5.9%, Sidamo 4%, Wolaytta 2.2%, Gurage 2%, Afar (official working language of the State of Afar) 1.7%, Hadiyya 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, Opuuo 1.2%, Kafa 1.1%, other 8.1%, English (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (2007 est.) |
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | No Official Language | English 89%, Spanish 7.7%, other 3.3% (2006 est.) |
| Faroe Islands | Faroese | Faroese 93.8% (derived from Old Norse), Danish 3.2%, other 3% (2011 est.) |
| Fiji | English, Fijian | English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani |
| Finland | Finnish, Swedish | Finnish (official) 88.3%, Swedish (official) 5.3%, Russian 1.4%, other 5% (2016 est.) |
| France | French | French (official) 100%, declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish, Occitan, Picard) |
| French Polynesia | French, Polynesian | French (official) 70%, Polynesian (official) 28.2%, other 1.8% (2012 est.) |
| Gabon | French | French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi |
| Gambia, The | English | English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars |
| Gaza Strip | Arabic | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Georgia | Georgian | Georgian (official) 87.6%, Azeri 6.2%, Armenian 3.9%, Russian 1.2%, other 1% |
| Germany | German | German (official) |
| Ghana | English | Asante 16%, Ewe 14%, Fante 11.6%, Boron (Brong) 4.9%, Dagomba 4.4%, Dangme 4.2%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.9%, Kokomba 3.5%, Akyem 3.2%, Ga 3.1%, other 31.2% |
| Gibraltar | English | English (used in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese |
| Greece | Greek | Greek (official) 99%, other (includes English and French) 1% |
| Greenland | Greenlandic, Danish | Greenlandic (East Inuit) (official), Danish (official), English |
| Grenada | English | English (official), French patois |
| Guam | No Official Language | English 43.6%, Filipino 21.2%, Chamorro 17.8%, other Pacific island languages 10%, Asian languages 6.3%, other 1.1% (2010 est.) |
| Guatemala | Spanish | Spanish (official) 60%, Amerindian languages 40% Note: there are 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca |
| Guernsey | No Official Language | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts |
| Guinea-Bissau | Portuguese | Crioulo (lingua franca), Portuguese (official; largely used as a second or third language), Pular (a Fula language), Mandingo |
| Guinea | French | French (official) Note: each ethnic group has its own language |
| Guyana | English | English (official), Guyanese Creole, Amerindian languages (including Caribbean and Arawak languages), Indian languages (including Caribbean Hindustani, a dialect of Hindi), Chinese (2014 est.) |
| Haiti | French, Haitian Creole | French (official), Creole (official) |
| Holy See (Vatican City) | No Official Language | Italian, Latin, French, various other languages |
| Honduras | Spanish | Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects |
| Hong Kong | Cantonese, English, Mandarin | Cantonese (official) 89.5%, English (official) 3.5%, Mandarin (official) 1.4%, other Chinese dialects 4%, other 1.6% (2011 est.) |
| Hungary | Hungarian | Hungarian (official) 99.6%, English 16%, German 11.2%, Russian 1.6%, Romanian 1.3%, French 1.2%, other 4.2% |
| Iceland | Icelandic | Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken |
| India | Hindi, English | Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9% |
| Indonesia | Bahasa Indonesia | Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (of which the most widely spoken is Javanese) |
| Iran | Persian | Persian (official), Azeri Turkic and Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic, other |
| Iraq | Arabic, Kurdish | Arabic (official), Kurdish (official), Turkmen (a Turkish dialect), Syriac (Neo-Aramaic), and Armenian are official in areas where native speakers of these languages constitute a majority of the population) |
| Ireland | English, Gaeilge | English (official, the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken by approximately 38.7% of the population as a first or second language in 2011; mainly spoken in areas along the western coast) |
| Isle of Man | No Official Language | English, Manx Gaelic (about 2% of the population has some knowledge) |
| Israel | Hebrew | Hebrew (official), Arabic (used officially for Arab minority), English (most commonly used foreign language) |
| Italy | Italian | Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area) |
| Jamaica | English | English, English patois |
| Japan | No Official Language | Japanese |
| Jersey | English | English 94.5% (official), Portuguese 4.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census) |
| Jordan | Arabic | Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes) |
| Kazakhstan | Kazakh, Russian | Kazakh (official, Qazaq) 74% (understand spoken language), Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 94.4% (understand spoken language) (2009 est.) |
| Kenya | English, Kiswahili | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages |
| Kiribati | English | I-Kiribati, English (official) |
| Korea, North | Korean | Korean |
| Korea, South | Korea | Korea, English is widely taught. |
| Kosovo | Albanian, Serbian | Albanian (official) 94.5%, Bosnian 1.7%, Serbian (official) 1.6%, Turkish 1.1%, other 0.9% (includes Romani), unspecified 0.1% |
| Kuwait | Arabic | Arabic (official), English widely spoken |
| Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz, Russian | Kyrgyz (official) 71.4%, Uzbek 14.4%, Russian (official) 9%, other 5.2% (2009 est.) |
| Laos | Lao | Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages |
| Latvia | Latvian | Latvian (official) 56.3%, Russian 33.8%, other 0.6% (includes Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), unspecified 9.4% |
| Lebanon | Arabic | Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian |
| Lesotho | English | Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
| Liberia | English | English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages few of which can be written or used in correspondence |
| Libya | Arabic | Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq) |
| Liechtenstein | German | German 94.5% (official) (Alemannic is the main dialect), Italian 1.1%, other 4.3% (2010 est.) |
| Lithuania | Lithuanian | Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other 0.9%, unspecified 3.5% (2011 est.) |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourgish, French, German | Luxembourgish (official administrative and judicial language and national language (spoken vernacular)) 88.8%, French (official administrative, judicial, and legislative language) 4.2%, Portuguese 2.3%, German (official administrative and judicial language) 1.1%, other 3.5% (2011 est.) |
| Macau | Cantonese, Portuguese | Cantonese 83.3%, Mandarin 5%, Hokkien 3.7%, English 2.3%, other Chinese dialects 2%, Tagalog 1.7%, Portuguese 0.7%, other 1.3% |
| Macedonia | Macedonian | Macedonian (official) 66.5%, Albanian 25.1%, Turkish 3.5%, Romani 1.9%, Serbian 1.2%, other 1.8% (2002 est.) |
| Madagascar | French, Malagasy | French (official), Malagasy (official), English |
| Malawi | English | English (official), Chichewa (common), Chinyanja, Chiyao, Chitumbuka, Chilomwe, Chinkhonde, Chingoni, Chisena, Chitonga, Chinyakyusa, Chilambya |
| Malaysia | Bahasa Malaysia | Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai |
| Maldives | Dhivehi | Dhivehi (official, dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English (spoken by most government officials) |
| Mali | French | French (official), Bambara 46.3%, Peul/Foulfoulbe 9.4%, Dogon 7.2%, Maraka/Soninke 6.4%, Malinke 5.6%, Sonrhai/Djerma 5.6%, Minianka 4.3%, Tamacheq 3.5%, Senoufo 2.6%, Bobo 2.1%, unspecified 0.7%, other 6.3% |
| Malta | Maltese | Maltese (official) 90.1%, English (official) 6%, multilingual 3%, other 0.9% (2005 est.) |
| Marshall Islands | Marshallese | Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census) |
| Mauritania | Arabic | Arabic (official and national), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French |
| Mauritius | English | Creole 86.5%, Bhojpuri 5.3%, French 4.1%, two languages 1.4%, other 2.6% (includes English, the official language of the National Assembly, which is spoken by less than 1% of the population), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) |
| Mexico | No Official Language | Spanish 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8% |
| Micronesia, Federated States of | English | English (official and common language), Chuukese, Kosrean, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi |
| Moldova | Romanian | Romanian 80.2% (official) (56.7% identify their mother tongue as Moldovan, which is virtually the same as Romanian; 23.5% identify Romanian as their mother tongue), Russian 9.7%, Gagauz 4.2% (a Turkish language), Ukrainian 3.9%, Bulgarian 1.5%, Romani 0.3%, other 0.2% (2014 est.) |
| Monaco | French | French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque |
| Mongolia | Mongolian | Mongolian 90% (official) (Khalkha dialect is predominant), Turkic, Russian (1999) |
| Montenegro | Montenegrin | Serbian 42.9%, Montenegrin (official) 37%, Bosnian 5.3%, Albanian 5.3%, Serbo-Croat 2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 4% (2011 est.) |
| Montserrat | No Official Language | English |
| Morocco | Arabic, Tamazight | Arabic (official), Berber languages (Tamazight (official), Tachelhit, Tarifit), French (often the language of business, government, and diplomacy) |
| Mozambique | Portugeuse | Emakhuwa 25.3%, Portuguese (official) 10.7%, Xichangana 10.3%, Cisena 7.5%, Elomwe 7%, Echuwabo 5.1%, other Mozambican languages 30.1%, other 0.3%, unspecified 3.7% (2007 est.) |
| Namibia | English | Oshivambo languages 48.9%, Nama/Damara 11.3%, Afrikaans 10.4% (common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population), Otjiherero languages 8.6%, Kavango languages 8.5%, Caprivi languages 4.8%, English (official) 3.4%, other African languages 2.3%, other 1.7% |
| Nauru | Nauruan | Nauruan 93% (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English 2% (widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes), other 5% (includes I-Kiribati 2% and Chinese 2%) |
| Nepal | Nepali | Nepali (official) 44.6%, Maithali 11.7%, Bhojpuri 6%, Tharu 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.2%, Magar 3%, Bajjika 3%, Urdu 2.6%, Avadhi 1.9%, Limbu 1.3%, Gurung 1.2%, other 10.4%, unspecified 0.2% |
| Netherlands | Dutch | Dutch (official) Note: Frisian is an official language in Fryslan province; Frisian, Low Saxon, Limburgish, Romani, and Yiddish have protected status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; Dutch is the official language of the three special municipalities of the Caribbean Netherlands, while English is a recognized regional language on Sint Eustatius and Saba and Papiamento is a recognized regional language on Bonaire |
| New Caledonia | French | French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects |
| New Zealand | No Official Language | English (de facto official) 89.8%, Maori (de jure official) 3.5%, Samoan 2%, Hindi 1.6%, French 1.2%, Northern Chinese 1.2%, Yue 1%, other or not stated 20.5%, New Zealand Sign Language (de jure official) |
| Nicaragua | Spanish | Spanish (official) 95.3%, Miskito 2.2%, Mestizo of the Caribbean coast 2%, other 0.5% |
| Nigeria | English | English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages |
| Niger | French | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
| Niue | Niuean | Niuean (official) 46% (a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan), Niuean and English 32%, English (official) 11%, Niuean and others 5%, other 6% (2011 est.) |
| Norfolk Island | English | English (official) 67.6%, other 32.4% (includes Norfolk Island 23.7%, which is a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian) (2011 est.) |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Chamorro, English | Philippine languages 32.8%, Chamorro (official) 24.1%, English (official) 17%, other Pacific island languages 10.1%, Chinese 6.8%, other Asian languages 7.3%, other 1.9% (2010 est.) |
| Norway | Norwegian | Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities |
| Oman | Arabic | Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects |
| Pakistan | Urdu | Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Saraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashto (alternate name, Pashtu) 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and other 8% |
| Palau | English, Palauan | Palauan (official on most islands) 65.2%, other Micronesian 1.9%, English (official) 19.1%, Filipino 9.9%, Chinese 1.2%, other 2.8% |
| Panama | Spanish | Spanish (official), indigenous languages (including Ngabere (or Guaymi), Buglere, Kuna, Embera, Wounaan, Naso (or Teribe), and Bri Bri), Panamanian English Creole (similar to Jamaican English Creole; a mixture of English and Spanish with elements of Ngabere; also known as Guari Guari and Colon Creole), English, Chinese (Yue and Hakka), Arabic, French Creole, other (Yiddish, Hebrew, Korean, Japanese) |
| Papua New Guinea | English, Tok Pisin | Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 indigenous languages spoken (about 12% of the world's total); many languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers |
| Paraguay | Guarani, Spanish | Spanish (official), Guarani (official) |
| Peru | Spanish, Aymara, Quechua | Spanish (official) 84.1%, Quechua (official) 13%, Aymara (official) 1.7%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.7%, other (includes foreign languages and sign language) 0.2% (2007 est.) |
| Philippines | Tagalog | Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official); eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan |
| Pitcairn Islands | English | English (official), Pitkern (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect) |
| Poland | Polish | Polish (official) 98.2%, Silesian 1.4%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.3% |
| Portugal | Portuguese | Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official, but locally used) |
| Puerto Rico | No Official Language | Spanish, English |
| Qatar | Arabic | Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language |
| Romania | Romanian | Romanian (official) 85.4%, Hungarian 6.3%, Romani 1.2%, other 1%, unspecified 6.1% (2011 est.) |
| Russia | Russian | Russian (official) 85.7%, Tatar 3.2%, Chechen 1%, other 10.1% |
| Rwanda | French, English, Kinyarwanda | Kinyarwanda only (official, universal Bantu vernacular) 93.2%, Kinyarwanda and other language(s) 6.2%, French (official) and other language(s) 0.1%, English (official) and other language(s) 0.1%, Swahili (or Kiswahili, used in commercial centers) 0.02%, other 0.03%, unspecified 0.3% (2002 est.) |
| Saint Barthelemy | No Official Language | French, English |
| Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha | No Official Language | English |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | English | English (official) |
| Saint Lucia | English | English (official), French patois |
| Saint Martin | French | French (official), English, Dutch, French Patois, Spanish, Papiamento (dialect of Netherlands Antilles) |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | French | French (official) |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | English | English, French patois |
| Samoa | Samoan | Samoan (Polynesian) (official), English |
| San Marino | Italian | Italian |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Portuguese | Portuguese 98.4% (official), Forro 36.2%, Cabo Verdian 8.5%, French 6.8%, Angolar 6.6%, English 4.9%, Lunguie 1%, other (including sign language) 2.4% |
| Saudi Arabia | Arabic | Arabic (official) |
| Senegal | French | French (official), Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke |
| Serbia | Serbian | Serbian (official) 88.1%, Hungarian 3.4%, Bosnian 1.9%, Romani 1.4%, other 3.4%, undeclared or unknown 1.8% |
| Seychelles | English, French, Seychellois Creole | Seychellois Creole (official) 89.1%, English (official) 5.1%, French (official) 0.7%, other 3.8%, unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.) |
| Sierra Leone | English | English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%) |
| Singapore | English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil | Mandarin (official) 36.3%, English (official) 29.8%, Malay (official) 11.9%, Hokkien 8.1%, Cantonese 4.1%, Tamil (official) 3.2%, Teochew 3.2%, other Indian languages 1.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.1%, other 1.1% (2010 est.) |
| Sint Maarten | English, Dutch | English (official) 67.5%, Spanish 12.9%, Creole 8.2%, Dutch (official) 4.2%, Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 2.2%, French 1.5%, other 3.5% (2001 census) |
| Slovakia | Slovak | Slovak (official) 78.6%, Hungarian 9.4%, Roma 2.3%, Ruthenian 1%, other or unspecified 8.8% (2011 est.) |
| Slovenia | Slovenian | Slovenian (official) 91.1%, Serbo-Croatian 4.5%, other or unspecified 4.4%, Italian (official, only in municipalities where Italian national communities reside), Hungarian (official, only in municipalities where Hungarian national communities reside) (2002 census) |
| Solomon Islands | English | Melanesian pidgin (in much of the country is lingua franca), English (official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population), 120 indigenous languages |
| Somalia | Somali, Arabic | Somali (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter), Arabic (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter), Italian, English |
| South Africa | IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, Afrikaans, English, Sepedi, Xitsonga, isiSwati, Tshivenda, isiNdebele | IsiZulu (official) 22.7%, IsiXhosa (official) 16%, Afrikaans (official) 13.5%, English (official) 9.6%, Sepedi (official) 9.1%, Setswana (official) 8%, Sesotho (official) 7.6%, Xitsonga (official) 4.5%, siSwati (official) 2.5%, Tshivenda (official) 2.4%, isiNdebele (official) 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other 1.6% (2011 est.) |
| South Sudan | English | English (official), Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants), regional languages include Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande, Shilluk |
| Spain | Spanish | Castilian Spanish (official nationwide) 74%, Catalan (official in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community (where it is known as Valencian)) 17%, Galician (official in Galicia) 7%, Basque (official in the Basque Country and in the Basque-speaking area of Navarre) 2%, Aranese (official in the northwest corner of Catalonia (Vall d'Aran) along with Catalan; <5,000 speakers) |
| Sri Lanka | Sinhala, Tamil | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (official and national language) 18%, other 8% |
| Sudan | Arabic, English | Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Fur |
| Suriname | Dutch | Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese |
| Svalbard | Norwegian | Norwegian, Russian |
| Swaziland | English, siSwati | English (official, used for government business), siSwati (official) |
| Sweden | Swedish | Swedish (official) |
| Switzerland | German, French, Italian | German (or Swiss German) (official) 63%, French (official) 22.7%, Italian (official) 8.1%, English 4.9%, Portuguese 3.7%, Albanian 3%, Serbo-Croatian 2.4%, Spanish 2.2%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 7.1% |
| Syria | Arabic | Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English |
| Taiwan | Mandarin | Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects |
| Tajikistan | Tajik | Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business |
| Tanzania | Kiswahili, English | Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages |
| Thailand | Thai | Thai (official) 90.7%, Burmese 1.3%, other 8% |
| Timor-Leste | Tetun, Portuguese | Tetun Prasa 30.6%, Mambai 16.6%, Makasai 10.5%, Tetun Terik 6.1%, Baikenu 5.9%, Kemak 5.8%, Bunak 5.5%, Tokodede 4%, Fataluku 3.5%, Waima'a 1.8%, Galoli 1.4%, Naueti 1.4%, Idate 1.2%, Midiki 1.2%, other 4.5% |
| Togo | French | French (official, the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north) |
| Tokelau | Tokelauan | Tokelauan 88.1% (a Polynesian language), English 48.6%, Samoan 26.7%, Tuvaluan 11.2%, Kiribati 1.5%, other 2.8%, none 2.8%, unspecified 0.8% |
| Tonga | Tongan, English | English and Tongan 87%, Tongan (official) 10.7%, English (official) 1.2%, other 1.1%, unspecified 0.03% (2006 est.) |
| Trinidad and Tobago | English | English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese |
| Tunisia | Arabic | Arabic (official, one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce), Berber (Tamazight) |
| Turkey | Turkish | Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmen | Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | English | English (official) |
| Tuvalu | Tuvaluan, English | Tuvaluan (official), English (official), Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
| Uganda | English | English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic |
| Ukraine | Ukrainian | Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other (includes small Crimean Tatar-, Moldavian-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 2.9% (2001 est.) |
| United Arab Emirates | Arabic | Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu |
| United Kingdom | No Official Language | English, note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland), Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland), Welsh (about 20% of the population of Wales), Irish (about 10% of the population of Northern Ireland), Cornish (some 2,000 to 3,000 in Cornwall) (2012 est.) |
| United States | No Official Language | English 79.2%, Spanish 12.9%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 3.3%, other 0.9% (2011 est.) |
| Uruguay | Spanish | Spanish (official), Portunol, Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) |
| Uzbekistan | Uzbek | Uzbek (official) 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1% |
| Vanuatu | Bislama, English, French | local languages (more than 100) 63.2%, Bislama (official; creole) 33.7%, English (official) 2%, French (official) 0.6%, other 0.5% (2009 est.) |
| Venezuela | Spanish | Spanish (official) with numerous indigenous dialects. |
| Vietnam | Vietnamese | Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian) |
| Virgin Islands | No Official Language | English 71.6%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 17.2%, French or French Creole 8.6%, other 2.5% (2010 est.) |
| Wallis and Futuna | French | Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language) 58.9%, Futunian 30.1%, French (official) 10.8%, other 0.2% (2003 census) |
| West Bank | Arabic | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Western Sahara | Arabic | Standard Arabic (national), Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic |
| Yemen | Arabic | Arabic (official) |
| Zambia | English | Bembe 33.4%, Nyanja 14.7%, Tonga 11.4%, Lozi 5.5%, Chewa 4.5%, Nsenga 2.9%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (North Western) 1.9%, Kaonde 1.8%, Lala 1.8%, Lamba 1.8%, English (official) 1.7%, Luvale 1.5%, Mambwe 1.3%, Namwanga 1.2%, Lenje 1.1%, Bisa 1%, other 9.7%, unspecified 0.2% |
| Zimbabwe | Shona, Ndebele, English | Shona (official; most widely spoken), Ndebele (official, second most widely spoken), English (official; traditionally used for official business), 13 minority languages (official; includes Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa |
References and Further Study:
AGENCY, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. WORLD FACTBOOK 2016-17. Washington, DC: CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, 2016. Print.
“PM Approves Implementation of Urdu Language in Govt Departments | Pakistan | Dunya News.” Dunyanews.tv. Dunya News, 11 July 2015. Web. 19 May 2017.
Agrawal, Aditya. “Pakistan Official Language: Urdu to Replace English.” Time. Time, 28 July 2015. Web. 19 May 2017.
Hoydal, Marita. “Facts about the Nordic Region.” Language – Nordic Cooperation. Nordic Co-operation, n.d. Web. 19 May 2017.
Turner, Barry. The statesmans yearbook: the politics, cultures and economies of the world, 2017. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2016.
Pearson, Noel. “Indigenous Tongues Deserve Recognition as Official Languages.” The Weekend Australian. The Australian, 20 Feb. 2016. Web. 19 May 2017.
“Filipinsk Og Teilenskt Vunnu Fram Sum Móðurmál.” Filipinsk Og Teilenskt Vunnu Fram Sum Móðurmál | Hagstova Føroya. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017.
“Working in the Gaza Strip.” UNRWA.ORG. United Nations Relief and Works Agency, n.d. Web. 19 May 2017.
Pullella, Philip. “Pope Ditches Latin as Official Language of Vatican Synod.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 06 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 May 2017.
Footitt, Hilary, and Michael Kelly. Languages at War: Policies and Practices of Language Contacts in Conflict. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.
Strother, Jason. “Korean Is Virtually Two Languages, and That’s a Big Problem for North Korean Defectors.” Public Radio International. PRI, 19 May 2015. Web. 19 May 2017.
Author: Daniel Dugan
Daniel is the founder of Alphabet Linguistics, a Providence-based language translation agency. He writes about language and how people use it to live and work together. When he’s not working or reading, you can often spot him cruising around on his worn-out Peugeot.