List of official languages by country and territory

This is a list of official languages by country and territory. It includes all languages that have official language status either statewide or in a part of the state, or that have status as a national language, regional language, or minority language.

Definitions

Official language
A language designated as having a unique legal status in the state: typically, the language used in a nation's legislative bodies, and often, official government business.
Regional language
A language designated as having official status limited to a specific area, administrative division, or territory of the state. (On this page a regional language has parentheses next to it that contain a region, province, etc. where the language has regional status.)
National language
A language that uniquely represents the national identity of a state, nation, and/or country and is so designated by a country's government; some are technically minority languages. (On this page a national language is followed by parentheses that identify it as a national language status.) Some countries have more than one language with this status.

List

Country/Region Official language Regional language Minority language National language Widely spoken
Abkhazia Georgian Abkhaz
Afghanistan
Albania Albanian Italian
Algeria French
Andorra Catalan
Angola Portuguese
Antigua and Barbuda English
Argentina None (Spanish has de facto status)
Armenia Armenian Armenian (state language) Russian
Australia None (English has de facto status)
Austria

German

German (state language)

English

Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Azerbaijani (state language) Russian
Bahamas English
Bahrain Arabic English
Bangladesh Bengali Bengali English
Barbados English
Belarus Belarusian
Belgium
  • Dutch
  • French
  • German

English

Belize English
Benin French
Bhutan Dzongkha
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina None (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian all have de facto status)
Botswana English Tswana
Brazil

Portuguese

Portuguese
Brunei Malay
Bulgaria Bulgarian
Burkina Faso French
Burundi Kirundi Swahili
Cambodia Khmer
Cameroon
  • English
  • French
Canada
  • Chipewyan
  • Cree
  • Gwich'in
  • Inuinnaqtun
  • Inuktitut
  • Inuvialuktun
  • Mi'kmaq
  • North Slavey
  • South Slavey
  • Tłı̨chǫ
Cape Verde Portuguese Cape Verdean Creole
Central African Republic
Chad
  • Arabic
  • French
Chile Spanish

Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories

China Standard Chinese Other Sinitic languages
 Christmas Island
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands Malay
Colombia Spanish Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo French
Republic of the Congo French
 Cook Islands
Costa Rica Spanish
Croatia Croatian
  • Italian (Istria County)
  • Romani (non-territorial)
  • Slovene (non-territorial)

English

Cuba Spanish
Cyprus English
Czech Republic
  • Czech
  • Slovak
Czech
Denmark Danish German (in Southern Jutland) English
Djibouti
  • Arabic
  • French
Dominica English
Dominican Republic Spanish
East Timor
Ecuador
  • Spanish
Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories
Egypt Arabic Coptic Egyptian Arabic English
El Salvador Spanish
Equatorial Guinea
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
Eritrea Tigrinya
  • Arabic
  • Italian
Estonia Estonian Russian
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland Sami (in Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä, Utsjoki)
  • Finnish
  • Swedish

English

France French Occitan language
Gabon French
Gambia English
Georgia Georgian Russian
Germany German
  • Danish
  • Lower Sorbian
  • North Frisian
  • Romani
  • Upper Sorbian

English

Ghana English
Greece Greek
Grenada English
Guatemala Spanish
Guinea French
Guinea-Bissau Portuguese
Guyana English Guyanese Creole
Haiti
Honduras Spanish
Hungary Hungarian
  • Croatian
  • German
  • Romanian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Slovene
Iceland
 India
Indonesia Indonesian
Iran Persian Persian
Iraq
Ireland Irish
Israel Hebrew Arabic English
  • Russian
  • English
Italy Italian
  • Ladin
  • Slovene
Other Italo-Dalmatian languages
Ivory Coast French
Jamaica English Jamaican Patois
Japan None (Japanese has de facto status) Japanese
Jordan Arabic
  • Circassian
  • Chechen
  • Armenian
Kazakhstan Kazakh
Kenya Swahili
Kiribati
North Korea Korean
South Korea
Kosovo
  • Albanian
  • Serbian
Turkish
  • Albanian (nationwide)
  • Serbian (Northern Kosovo)
Kuwait Standard Arabic
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz
Laos Lao
Latvia Latvian Russian
Lebanon Arabic Arabic Armenian
  • Arabic
  • English
  • French
  • Arabic
  • English
  • French
Lesotho Sotho
Liberia English
Libya Arabic
Liechtenstein German
Lithuania Lithuanian
  • Russian
Luxembourg Luxembourgish
Madagascar Malagasy
Malawi
  • English
  • Chichewa
Chichewa
Malaysia Malay Regional/State dialects Malay
Maldives Dhivehi Dhivehi English
Mali French
Malta Maltese
Sovereign Military Order of Malta Italian
Marshall Islands
Mauritania Arabic French
Mauritius English

Mauritian Creole (Also known as 'Morisien')

English
Mexico None (Spanish has de facto status) 68 National languages
Federated States of Micronesia English
Moldova Romanian
Monaco French Monégasque
Mongolia Mongolian
Montenegro Montenegrin
Morocco
  • Arabic
  • Berber
Mozambique Portuguese
Myanmar (Burma) Burmese English
Namibia English Afrikaans
Nauru
Nepal Nepali all languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal
Netherlands Dutch

English

New Zealand
Nicaragua Spanish
Niger French
Nigeria English
 Niue
Norfolk Island
North Macedonia
Northern Cyprus Turkish
Norway

English

Oman Arabic Shehri
Pakistan Urdu
Palau
Palestine Arabic
  • English
  • Hebrew
Panama Spanish
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
  • Spanish
  • Guaraní
Peru Spanish Quechua, Aymara and another native languages are official wherever they predominate
Philippines Arabic (optional language)
Spanish (optional language)
(+ over 100 more minority languages)
Poland Polish Kashubian (Pomeranian Voivodeship)

English

Portugal Portuguese Mirandese (Terra de Miranda)

English

Qatar Arabic
Romania Romanian
  • Armenian
  • German
  • Hungarian
  • Romani
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Tatar
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
Russia Russian (33 languages)
Rwanda
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
  • Arabic
  • Spanish
Arabic
Saint Kitts and Nevis English
Saint Lucia English
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines English
Samoa
San Marino Italian
São Tomé and Príncipe Portuguese
Saudi Arabia Arabic
  • Indian Languages
  • Filipino
  • Bengali
Senegal French
Serbia Serbian (15 languages)
Seychelles
Sierra Leone English Krio
Singapore Malay
Slovakia Slovak
  • Bulgarian
  • Czech
  • German
  • Hungarian
  • Polish
  • Romani
  • Rusyn
  • Serbian
  • Ukrainian
Slovenia Slovene
Solomon Islands English
Somalia Somali, Arabic
Somaliland
  • Arabic
  • English
  • Somali
South Africa
South Ossetia Georgian Georgian
South Sudan English
Spain Spanish
Sri Lanka

English

Sudan
  • Arabic
  • English
Suriname Dutch Sranan Tongo
Sweden Swedish

English

Switzerland
Syria Arabic Kurdish
  • Assyrian
  • Western Neo-Aramaic
  • Armenian
Taiwan None (Mandarin Chinese has de facto status)
Tajikistan Tajik Tajik Russian
Tanzania
  • Swahili
  • English
Swahili
Thailand Thai
Togo French
 Tokelau
Tonga
Transnistria
  • Moldovan
  • Russian
  • Ukrainian
Trinidad and Tobago English Trinidadian Creole
Tunisia Arabic Arabic
Turkey Turkish Kurdish Turkish
Turkmenistan Turkmen Turkmen Russian
Tuvalu
  • Tuvaluan
  • English
Uganda
  • English
  • Swahili
Ukraine Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates Arabic English
United Kingdom and Crown dependencies etc. None (English has de facto status)
United States None (English has de facto status) (28 languages) Several indigenous languages of recognized federal tribes
  • English
  • Spanish
Uruguay
  • None (Spanish has de facto status)
  • Uruguayan Sign Language
Uzbekistan Uzbek Russian
Vanuatu
Vatican City
  • Italian
  • Latin (formerly)
Swiss German
Venezuela Native languages are official for indigenous peoples
Vietnam Vietnamese Vietnamese
Yemen Arabic
Zambia English
Zimbabwe

Number of countries with the same official language

This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are de jure or de facto official, although there are no precise inclusion criteria or definition of a language. An '*' (asterisk) indicates a country whose independence is disputed.

Partially recognized or de facto independent countries are denoted by an asterisk (*)

Language World Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Countries
English 58 23 14 4 3 14 United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, South Africa, Nigeria (See the full list)
French 28 20 2 5 1 France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Madagascar, Monaco, Haiti, Vanuatu (See the full list)
Arabic 22–25* 11–13* 11–12* Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Palestine* (See the full list)
Spanish 21 1 19 1 Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico (See the full list)
Portuguese 9 6 1 1 1 Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, East Timor (See the full list)
German 6 6 Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein (See the full list)
Russian 5–8* 3 2–5* Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Abkhazia*, South Ossetia*, Transnistria*. (See the full list)
Swahili 5 5 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
Serbo-Croatian 4–5* 4–5* Serbia (known as Serbian), Croatia (known as Croatian), Montenegro (known as Montenegrin), Bosnia and Herzegovina (known as Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian), Kosovo* (known as Serbian)
Italian 4 4 Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City
Malay 4 4 Malaysia (known as Malaysian), Indonesia (known as Indonesian), Singapore, Brunei
Dutch 3 1 2 Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname
Persian 3 3 Iran, Afghanistan (known as Dari), Tajikistan (known as Tajik)
Sotho 3 3 South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe
Tswana 3 3 Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Albanian 2–3* 2–3* Albania, Kosovo*, North Macedonia
Standard Chinese 2–3* 2–3* China, Singapore, Taiwan*
Romanian 2–3* 3 Romania, Moldova, Transnistria*
Somali 2–3* 2–3* Somalia, Ethiopia, and Somaliland*
Turkish 2–3* 2–3* Turkey, Northern Cyprus* and Cyprus
Aymara 2 2 Bolivia and Peru
Berber 2 2 Algeria and Morocco
Chichewa 2 2 Malawi and Zimbabwe
Greek 2 2 Greece and Cyprus
Guarani 2 2 Paraguay and Bolivia
Hindustani 2 2 India (known as Hindi) and Pakistan (known as Urdu)
Korean 2 2 North Korea and South Korea
Quechua 2 2 Bolivia and Peru
Rwanda-Rundi 2 2 Burundi (known as Kirundi) & Rwanda (known as Kinyarwanda)
Swati 2 2 Eswatini (Swaziland) and South Africa
Swedish 2 2 Sweden and Finland
Tamil 2 2 Sri Lanka and Singapore
Tigrinya 2 2 Eritrea and Ethiopia
Venda 2 2 South Africa and Zimbabwe
Xhosa 2 2 South Africa and Zimbabwe

This page was last updated at 2024-02-03 11:49 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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