Languages Spoken in Each Country of the World

Updated July 28, 2023 | Infoplease Staff
Diverse cultures
Source: Getty Images

According to Ethnologue, 7,151 languages are spoken in the world today. The distinction between a language and a dialect can be a contentious topic, though. Just ask someone on the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland if Scots is a language or a dialect of English!

There’s also a difference between a language and an official language. Official languages aren’t just used by people to speak to one another; they’re used for for official purposes in a country’s government, schools, courts, national media, and so forth.

Some places, like Japan, recognize only one official language (Japanese). Others, like India, have languages that are official in certain regions of the country (India has 23 of these). Zimbabwe holds the record for official national languages: 16.

But some countries may have hundreds of languages in use. The island nation of Papua New Guinea holds the record, with 840 spoken languages, many of which aren’t even related!

What Are the 21 Languages Most Spoken in the World?

The world’s top 21 most spoken languages are (in order):

  1. English (1.452 billion)
  2. Mandarin Chinese (1.118 billion)
  3. Hindi (602.2 million)
  4. Spanish (548.3 million)
  5. French (274.1 million)
  6. Modern Standard Arabic (274.0 million)
  7. Bengali (272.7 million)
  8. Russian (258.2 million)
  9. Portuguese (257.7 million)
  10. Urdu (231.3 million)
  11. Indonesian (199.0 million)
  12. Standard German (134.6 million)
  13. Japanese (125.4 million)
  14. Nigerian Pidgin (120.7 million)
  15. Marathi (99.1 million)
  16. Telugu (95.7 million)
  17. Turkish (88.1 million)
  18. Tamil (86.4 million)
  19. Yue Chinese (including Cantonese) (85.6 million)
  20. Vietnamese (85.3 million)
  21. Tagalog (82.3 million)

How Many Languages Does the Average Person Speak by Country?

That’s a complicated question!

Some countries have a lot of different languages! In these countries, people often speak the national language plus a local language. It may be more productive to look at multilingualism overall.

First, about 43 percent of the world’s population is bilingual, that is, they speak two languages fluently. That’s about 3.3 billion people around the world. A lot of those people live in Indonesia, where most people learn Indonesian, Javanese, and English. It’s estimated that 200 million Indonesians alone are bilingual.

But when it comes to polyglots—people who speak three or more languages—only three percent of the world can claim that title.

A few more places with high rates of bilingualism are:

  • Brazil
  • Australia
  • Cameroon
  • Mexico
  • China
  • The United States
  • India
  • Papua New Guinea

What Country Has 37 Languages?

Bolivia has 37 languages.

Languages Around the World

So, who speaks what and where? We’re glad you asked!

The list presented here comes from the CIA World Factbook, a widely recognized source of data on countries around the globe. The table below lists the official language of each country if there is one, as well as other languages spoken. In selected countries, the percent of the population that speaks each language is also given. This covers all of the major recognized languages in each country.

Country Recognized Languages

Afghanistan

Afghan Persian or Dari (official, lingua franca) 77%, Pashto (official) 48%, Uzbeki 11%, English 6%, Turkmani 3%, Urdu 3%, Pachaie 1%, Nuristani 1%, Arabic 1%, Balochi 1%, other <1% (2020 est.)

Albania

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 (official), French (lingua franca), Berber or Tamazight (official); dialects include Kabyle Berber (Taqbaylit), Shawiya Berber (Tacawit), Mzab Berber, Tuareg Berber (Tamahaq)

Andorra

Catalan (official) 35.7%, Castilian 43.2%, Portuguese 17.1%, French 8.9%, English 1.8%, other 5% (2018 est.)

Angola

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%; note - data represent most widely spoken languages; shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2014 est.)

Antigua and Barbuda

English (official), Antiguan Creole

Argentina

Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French, indigenous (Mapudungun, Quechua)

Armenia

Armenian (official) 97.9%, Kurmanji (spoken by Yezidi minority) 1%, other 1.1%; note - Russian is widely spoken (2011 est.)

Australia

English 72%, Mandarin 2.7%, Arabic 1.4%, Vietnamese 1.3%, Cantonese 1.2%, other 15.7%, unspecified 5.7% (2021 est.)

Austria

German (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene, official in southern Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 est.)

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani (Azeri) (official) 92.5%, Russian 1.4%, Armenian 1.4%, other 4.7% (2009 est.)

Bahamas

English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

Bahrain

Arabic (official), English, Farsi, Urdu

Bangladesh

Bangla 98.8% (official, also known as Bengali), other 1.2% (2011 est.)

Barbados

English (official), Bajan (English-based creole language, widely spoken in informal settings)

Belarus

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 (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%

Belize

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%, none 0.2% (cannot speak) (2010 est.)

Benin

55 languages; French (official); Fon (a Gbe language) and Yoruba are the most important indigenous languages in the south; half a dozen regionally important languages in the north, including Bariba (once counted as a Gur language) and Fulfulde

Bhutan

Sharchhopka 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26% (includes foreign languages) (2005 est.)

Bolivia

Spanish (official) 68.1%, Quechua (official) 17.2%, Aymara (official) 10.5%, Guarani (official) 0.6%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2.1%; note - Bolivia's 2009 constitution designates Spanish and all indigenous languages as official; 36 indigenous languages are specified, including a few that are extinct (2012 est.)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian (official) 52.9%, Serbian (official) 30.8%, Croatian (official) 14.6%, other 1.6%, no answer 0.2% (2013 est.)

Botswana

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 (official and most widely spoken language). Less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages

Brunei

Malay (Bahasa Melayu) (official), English, Chinese dialects

Bulgaria

Bulgarian (official) 76.8%, Turkish 8.2%, Romani 3.8%, other 0.7%, unspecified 10.5% (2011 est.)

Burkina Faso

Mossi 52.9%, Fula 7.8%, Gourmantche 6.8%, Dyula 5.7%, Bissa 3.3%, Gurunsi 3.2%, French (official) 2.2%, Bwamu 2%, Dagara 2%, San 1.7%, Marka 1.6%, Bobo 1.5%, Senufo 1.5%, Lobi 1.2%, other 6.6% (2019 est.)

Burundi

Kirundi only 29.7% (official); French only .3% (official); Swahili only .2%; English only .1% (official); Kirundi and French 8.4%; Kirundi, French, and English 2.4%, other language combinations 2%, unspecified 56.9% (2008 est.)

Note: data represent languages read and written by people 10 years of age or older; spoken Kirundi is nearly universal

Cambodia

Khmer (official) 95.8%, minority languages 2.9%, Chinese 0.6%, Vietnamese 0.5%, other 0.2% (2019 est.)

Cameroon

24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)

Canada

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.)

Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)

Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a Portuguese-based Creole language with two main dialects spoken in Cabo Verde and in the Cabo Verdean diaspora worldwide)

Central African Republic

French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages

Chad

French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in the south), more than 120 different languages and dialects

Chile

Spanish 99.5% (official), English 10.2%, Indigenous 1% (includes Mapudungun, Aymara, Quechua, Rapa Nui), other 2.3%, unspecified 0.2%; note - shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2012 est.)

China

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); note - Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet)

Colombia

Spanish (official) and 65 Amerindian languages

Comoros

Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (official; similar to Swahili) (Comorian)

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

Congo, Republic of

French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

Costa Rica

Spanish (official), English

Côte d'Ivoire

French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken

Croatia

Croatian (official) 95.6%, Serbian 1.2%, other 3% (including Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Albanian), unspecified 0.2% (2011 est.)

Cuba

Spanish (official)

Cyprus

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% (2011 est.)

Czechia

Czech (official) 88.4%, Slovak 1.5%, other 2.6%, unspecified 7.2%

Denmark

Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)

Djibouti

French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar

Dominica

English (official), French patois

Dominican Republic

Spanish (official)

Timor L'Este (East Timor)

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% (2015 est.)

Ecuador

Spanish (Castilian) 93% (official), Quechua 4.1%, other indigenous 0.7%, foreign 2.2%; note - (Quechua and Shuar are official languages of intercultural relations; other indigenous languages are in official use by indigenous peoples in the areas they inhabit) (2010 est.)

Egypt

Arabic (official), Arabic, English, and French widely understood by educated classes

El Salvador

Spanish (official), Nawat (among some Amerindians)

Equatorial Guinea

Spanish (official) 67.6%, other (includes Fang, Bubi, Portuguese (official), French (official)) 32.4% (1994 census)

Eritrea

Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages

Estonia

Estonian (official) 68.5%, Russian 29.6%, Ukrainian 0.6%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Eswatini

English (official, used for government business), siSwati (official)

Ethiopia

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.)

Fiji

English (official), iTaukei (official), Fiji Hindi (official)

Finland

Finnish (official) 86.5%, Swedish (official) 5.2%, Russian 1.6%, other 6.7% (2021 est.)

France

French (official) 100%, declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish, Occitan, Picard)

Gabon

French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi

Gambia

English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars

Georgia

Georgian (official) 87.6%, Azeri 6.2%, Armenian 3.9%, Russian 1.2%, other 1%; note - Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia (2014 est.)

Germany

German (official)

Note: Danish, Frisian, Sorbian, and Romani are official minority languages; Low German, Danish, North Frisian, Sater Frisian, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, and Romani are recognized as regional languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Ghana

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% (2010 est.)

Greece

Greek (official) 99%, other (includes English and French) 1%

Grenada

English (official), French patois

Guatemala

Spanish (official) 69.9%, Maya languages 29.7% (Q'eqchi' 8.3%, K'iche 7.8%, Mam 4.4%, Kaqchikel 3%, Q'anjob'al 1.2%, Poqomchi' 1%, other 4%), other 0.4% (includes Xinca and Garifuna); note - the 2003 Law of National Languages officially recognized 23 indigenous languages, including 21 Maya languages, Xinca, and Garifuna (2018 est.)

Guinea

French (official), Pular, Maninka, Susu, other native languages. About 40 languages are spoken; each ethnic group has its own language.

Guinea-Bissau

Crioulo (lingua franca), Portuguese (official; largely used as a second or third language), Pular (a Fula language), Mandingo

Guyana

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 (official), Creole (official)

Honduras

Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects

Hungary

Hungarian (official) 99.6%, English 16%, German 11.2%, Russian 1.6%, Romanian 1.3%, French 1.2%, other 4.2% (2011 est.)

Iceland

Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German

India

Hindi 43.6%, Bengali 8%, Marathi 6.9%, Telugu 6.7%, Tamil 5.7%, Gujarati 4.6%, Urdu 4.2%, Kannada 3.6%, Odia 3.1%, Malayalam 2.9%, Punjabi 2.7%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.1%, other 5.6%; English is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. There are 22 other officially recognized languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2011 est.)

Indonesia

Bahasa Indonesian (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (of which the most widely spoken is Javanese)

Note: more than 700 languages are used in Indonesia

Iran

Persian Farsi (official), Azeri and other Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic

Iraq

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 (official, the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken by approximately 39.8% of the population as of 2016; mainly spoken in areas along Ireland's western coast known as gaeltachtai, which are officially recognized regions where Irish is the predominant language)

Israel

Hebrew (official), Arabic (special status under Israeli law), English (most commonly used foreign language)

Italy

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 patois

Japan

Japanese

Jordan

Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes)

Kazakhstan

Kazakh (official, Qazaq) 83.1% (understand spoken language) and trilingual (Kazakh, Russian, English) 22.3% (2017 est.); Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 94.4% (understand spoken language) (2009 est.)

Kenya

English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages

Kiribati

Gilbertese (taetae ni Kiribati) 97.5%, English (official), other 4.3%

Korea, North

Korean

Korea, South

Korean, English (widely taught in elementary, junior high, and high school)

Kosovo

Albanian (official) 94.5%, Bosnian 1.7%, Serbian (official) 1.6%, Turkish 1.1%, other 0.9% (includes Romani), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Kuwait

Arabic (official), English widely spoken

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz (official) 71.4%, Uzbek 14.4%, Russian (official) 9%, other 5.2% (2009 est.)

Laos

Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages

Latvia

Latvian (official) 56.3%, Russian 33.8%, other 0.6% (includes Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), unspecified 9.4% (2011 est.)

Lebanon

Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

Lesotho

Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa

Liberia

English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages few of which can be written or used in correspondence

Libya

Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)

Liechtenstein

German 91.5% (official) (Alemannic is the main dialect), Italian 1.5%, Turkish 1.3%, Portuguese 1.1%, other 4.6% (2015 est.)

Lithuania

Lithuanian (official) 85.3%, Russian 6.8%, Polish 5.1%, other 1.1%, two mother tongues 1.7% (2021 est.)

Luxembourg

Luxembourgish (official administrative and judicial language and national language (spoken vernacular)) 55.8%, Portuguese 15.7%, French (official administrative, judicial, and legislative language) 12.1%, German (official administrative and judicial language) 3.1%, Italian 2.9%, English 2.1%, other 8.4% (2011 est.)

Madagascar

Malagasy (official) 99.9%, French (official) 23.6%, English 8.2%, other 0.6% (2018 est.)

Malawi

English (official), Chewa (common), Lambya, Lomwe, Ngoni, Nkhonde, Nyakyusa, Nyanja, Sena, Tonga, Tumbuka, Yao

Malaysia

Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai

Note: Malaysia has 134 living languages - 112 indigenous languages and 22 non-indigenous languages; in East Malaysia, there are several indigenous languages; the most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan

Maldives

Dhivehi (official, dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English (spoken by most government officials)

Mali

French (official), Bambara 46.3%, Peuhl/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% (2009 est.)

Malta

Maltese (official) 90.1%, English (official) 6%, multilingual 3%, other 0.9% (2005 est.)

Marshall Islands

Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census)

Mauritania

Arabic (official and national), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French

Mauritius

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

Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8% (2005)

Note: indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages

Micronesia, Federated States of

English (official and common language), Chuukese, Korean, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi

Moldova

Moldovan/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 (official), English, Italian, Monegasque

Mongolia

Mongolian 90% (official) (Khalkha dialect is predominant), Turkic, Russian (1999)

Montenegro

Serbian 42.9%, Montenegrin (official) 37%, Bosnian 5.3%, Albanian 5.3%, Serbo-Croat 2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 4% (2011 est.)

Morocco

Arabic (official), Berber languages (Tamazight (official), Tachelhit, Tarifit), French (often the language of business, government, and diplomacy)

Mozambique

Makhuwa 26.1%, Portuguese (official) 16.6%, Tsonga 8.6%, Nyanja 8.1, Sena 7.1%, Lomwe 7.1%, Chuwabo 4.7%, Ndau 3.8%, Tswa 3.8%, other Mozambican languages 11.8%, other 0.5%, unspecified 1.8% (2017 est.)

Myanmar

Burmese, minority languages

Namibia

Namibia has 13 recognized national languages, including 10 indigenous African languages and 3 European languages.

Oshiwambo languages 49.7%, Nama/Damara 11%, Kavango languages 10.4%, Afrikaans 9.4% (also a common language), Herero languages 9.2%, Zambezi languages 4.9%, English (official) 2.3%, other African languages 1.5%, other European languages .7%, other 1% (2016 est.)

Nauru

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%) (2011 est.)

Nepal

Nepali (official) 44.6%, Maithali 11.7%, Bhojpuri 6%, Tharu 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.2%, Bajjika 3%, Magar 3%, Doteli 3%, Urdu 2.6%, Avadhi 1.9%, Limbu 1.3%, Gurung 1.2%, Baitadeli 1%, other 6.4%, unspecified 0.2% (2011 est.)

Netherlands

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; English is a recognized regional language on Sint Eustatius and Saba; Papiamento is a recognized regional language on Bonaire

New Zealand

English (de facto official) 95.4%, Maori (de jure official) 4%, Samoan 2.2%, Northern Chinese 2%, Hindi 1.5%, French 1.2%, Yue 1.1%, New Zealand Sign Language (de jure official) .5%, other or not stated 17.2% (2018 est.)

Nicaragua

Spanish (official) 95.3%, Miskito 2.2%, Mestizo of the Caribbean coast 2%, other 0.5% (2005 est.)

Niger

French (official), Hausa, Djerma

Nigeria

English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages

North Macedonia

Macedonian (official) 61.4%, Albanian (official) 24.3%, Turkish 3.4%, Romani 1.7%, other (includes Aromanian (Vlach) and Bosnian) 2%, persons for whom data were taken from administrative sources and no language data was available 7.2% (2021 est.)

Norway

Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Oman

Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Swahili, Urdu, Indian dialects

Pakistan

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

Palauan (official on most islands) 65.2%, other Micronesian 1.9%, English (official) 19.1%, Filipino 9.9%, Chinese 1.2%, other 2.8% (2015 est.)

Palestinian State (proposed)

Fusha (official, often used by government and legal business), Palestinian Arabic, Shami Arabic, Hebrew

Panama

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

Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 indigenous languages spoken (about 12% of the world's total).

Paraguay

Spanish (official) and Guarani (official) 46.3%, only Guarani 34%, only Spanish 15.2%, other (includes Portuguese, German, other indigenous languages) 4.1% , no response .4% (2012 est.)

Peru

Spanish (official) 82.9%, Quechua (official) 13.6%, Aymara (official) 1.6%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.8%, other (includes foreign languages and sign language) 0.2%, none .1%, unspecified .7% (2017 est.)

Philippines

Unspecified Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official); eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan

Poland

Polish (official) 98.2%, Silesian 1.4%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.3% (2011 est.) Recognized minority languages include Kashub, Czech, Hebrew, Yiddish, Belarusian, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian,Karaim, Lemko, Romani, and Tatar.

Portugal

Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official, but locally used)

Qatar

Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language

Romania

Romanian (official) 85.4%, Hungarian 6.3%, Romani 1.2%, other 1%, unspecified 6.1% (2011 est.)

Russia

Russian (official) 85.7%, Tatar 3.2%, Chechen 1%, other 10.1% (2010 est.)

Rwanda

Kinyarwanda (official, universal Bantu vernacular) 93.2%, French (official) <.1, English (official) <.1, Swahili/Kiswahili (official, used in commercial centers) <.1, more than one language, other 6.3%, unspecified 0.3% (2002 est.)

St. Kitts and Nevis

English (official), Saint Kitts Creole

St. Lucia

English (official), French patois

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

English, Vincentian Creole English, French patois

Samoa

Samoan (Polynesian) (official) 91.1%, Somoan/English 6.7%, English (official) 0.5%, other 0.2%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 est.)

San Marino

Italian

São Tomé and Príncipe

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% (2012 est.)

Saudi Arabia

Arabic (official)

Senegal

French (official), Wolof, Pular, Jola, Mandinka, Serer, Soninke

Serbia

Serbian (official) 88.1%, Hungarian 3.4%, Bosnian 1.9%, Romani 1.4%, other 3.4%, undeclared or unknown 1.8% (2011 est.)

Seychelles

Seychellois Creole (official) 89.1%, English (official) 5.1%, French (official) 0.7%, other 3.8%, unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.)

Sierra Leone

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 (official) 48.3%, Mandarin (official) 29.9%, other Chinese dialects (includes Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka) 8.7%, Malay (official) 9.2%, Tamil (official) 2.5%, other 1.4%; note - data represent language most frequently spoken at home (2020 est.)

Slovakia

Slovak (official) 81.8%, Hungarian 8.5%, Roma 1.8%, other 2.2%, unspecified 5.7% (2021 est.)

Slovenia

Slovene (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

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 (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter), Arabic (official, according to the 2012 Transitional Federal Charter), Italian, English

South Africa

isiZulu (official) 25.3%, isiXhosa (official) 14.8%, Afrikaans (official) 12.2%, Sepedi (official) 10.1%, Setswana (official) 9.1%, English (official) 8.1%, Sesotho (official) 7.9%, Xitsonga (official) 3.6%, siSwati (official) 2.8%, Tshivenda (official) 2.5%, isiNdebele (official) 1.6%, other (includes Khoi, Nama, and San languages) 2%; note - data represent language spoken most often at home (2018 est.)

South Sudan

English (official), Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants), regional languages include Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande, Shilluk

Spain

Castilian Spanish (official nationwide) 74%, Catalan (official in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community 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). Aragonese, Aranese Asturian, Basque, Calo, Catalan, Galician, and Valencian are recognized as regional languages.

Sri Lanka

Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 28.5%, English 23.8% (2012 est.)

Sudan

Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Fur

Suriname

Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is the native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese

Sweden

Swedish (official)

Switzerland

German (or Swiss German) (official) 62.1%, French (official) 22.8%, Italian (official) 8%, English 5.7%, Portuguese 3.5%, Albanian 3.3%, Serbo-Croatian 2.3%, Spanish 2.3%, Romansh (official) 0.5%, other 7.9%; note - German, French, Italian, and Romansh are all national and official languages; shares sum to more than 100% because respondents could indicate more than one main language (2019 est.)

Syria

Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English

Taiwan

Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min Nan), Hakka dialects, approximately 16 indigenous languages

Tajikistan

Tajik (official) 84.4%, Uzbek 11.9%, Kyrgyz .8%, Russian .5%, other 2.4% (2010 est.)

Tanzania

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 (official) only 90.7%, Thai and other languages 6.4%, only other languages 2.9% (includes Malay, Burmese) (2010 est.)

Togo

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)

Tonga

Tongan and English 76.8%, Tongan, English, and other language 10.6%, Tongan only (official) 8.7%, English only (official) 0.7%, other 1.7%, none 2.2% (2016 est.)

Trinidad and Tobago

English (official), Trinidadian Creole English, Tobagonian Creole English, Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Trinidadian Creole French, Spanish, Chinese

Tunisia

Arabic (official, one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce), Berber (Tamazight)

Turkey

Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages

Turkmenistan

Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Tuvalu

Tuvaluan (official), English (official), Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)

Uganda

English (official language, taught in 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 and the language used most often in the capital), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili (official), Arabic

Ukraine

Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other (includes small Crimean Tatar-, Moldovan/Romanian-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 2.9% (2001 est.)

United Arab Emirates

Arabic (official), English, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Pashto, Tagalog, Persian

United Kingdom

English

Note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland), Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 speakers 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 people in Cornwall) (2012 est.)

United States

English only 78.2%, Spanish 13.4%, Chinese 1.1%, other 7.3% (2017 est.)

Note: data represent the language spoken at home; the US has no official national language, but English has acquired official status in 32 of the 50 states; Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii, and 20 indigenous languages are official in Alaska

Uruguay

Spanish (official), Portunol, or Brazilero

Uzbekistan

Uzbek (official) 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%

Vanuatu

local languages (more than 100) 63.2%, Bislama (official; creole) 33.7%, English (official) 2%, French (official) 0.6%, other 0.5% (2009 est.)

Vatican City (Holy See)

Italian, Latin, French, various other languages

Venezuela

Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

Vietnam

Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Western Sahara (proposed state)

Standard Arabic, Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Berber, Spanish, French

Yemen

Arabic (official); Socotri is widely used on Socotra Island and Archipelago; Mahri is widely spoken in eastern Yemen.

Zambia

Bemba 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% (2010 est.)

Zimbabwe

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)

The (Official) List of Languages

Africa has an astounding amount of linguistic diversity. The Afro-Asiatic branch of languages alone has over 300 different languages!

Would you like to learn more about the languages of Africa? Check out our African Languages resource page!

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