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

{| class="wikitable sortable col2center"

! width=170|Country/Region

!Number of official (including de facto)

! width=170|Official language(s)

! width=220|Regional language(s)

! width=170|Minority language(s)

! width=150|National language(s)

! Widely spoken

Abkhaz
Russian

| Georgian

| Abkhaz

Persian (Dari)
Pashto

Uzbek
Turkmen
Pashayi
Nuristani
Balochi
Pamiri

Persian (Dari)
Pashto

Persian (Dari)

|Albanian

Greek
Macedonian
Aromanian

|Italian

Arabic
Berber

Arabic
Berber

|French

| Catalan

Spanish
French
Portuguese

| Portuguese

Kimbundu
Umbundu
Kikongo
Chokwe
Kwanyama
Ganguela

Angolan Portuguese

| (English and (Spanish)

Antiguan and Barbudan Creole

| None at federal level (Spanish has de facto status)

Argentine Sign Language

Spanish (in Corrientes and Chaco)
Guaraní (in Corrientes)

| Armenian

| Armenian (state language)

|Russian

| None (English has de facto status)

Cocos Malay (on Cocos (Keeling) Islands)
English (official status on Norfolk Island)
Malay (on Christmas Island)
Mandarin Chinese (on Christmas Island)
Norfuk (on Norfolk Island)

German

Burgenland Croatian (parts of Burgenland)
Hungarian (parts of Burgenland)
Slovene (parts of Carinthia)

Slovene
Czech
Hungarian
Slovak
Romani
Serbian

| German (state language)

English

| Azerbaijani

| Azerbaijani (state language)

|Russian

| English

| Arabic

| English

| Bengali

Sylheti (parts of Sylhet Division)
Chittagonian (parts of Chittagong Division)
Rangpuri/Kamtapuri (parts of Rangpur Division)

Chakma
Marma
Rakhine
Hajong
Santali
Tripuri
Manipuri

| Bengali

| English

Belarusian
Russian

|Belarusian

|Russian

Dutch
French
German

Dutch (Flanders, Brussels)
French (Brussels, Wallonia)

|37

Castilian (Spanish)
Aymara
Araona
Baure
Bésiro (Chiquitano)
Canichana
Cavineña
Cayubaba
Chácobo
Chimán
Ese Ejja
Guaraní
Guarasu'we
Guarayu
Itonama
Leco
Machajuyai-Kallawaya
Machineri
Maropa
Mojeño-Ignaciano
Mojeño-Trinitario
Moré
Mosetén
Movima
Pacawara
Puquina
Quechua
Sirionó
Tacana
Tapieté
Toromona
Uru-Chipaya
Weenhayek
Yaminawa
Yuki
Yuracaré
Zamuco

|None (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian all have de facto status)

|English

| Tswana

Other Bantu languages
Several Khoisan languages

Portuguese

95 municipalities and 3 Brazilian states have co-official languages, with 61 co-officialized languages. The list can be seen at Languages of Brazil.

| Portuguese

Spanish
English
French

|Malay

English
Chinese

| Bulgarian

Mooré
Bissa
Dyula
Fula

| Working languages:

French
English

French
Kirundi
English

| Kirundi

| Swahili

| Khmer

French
English
Chinese

English
French

English (Federal)
French (Federal)

Chipewyan (Northwest Territories)
Cree (Northwest Territories)
Gwich'in (Northwest Territories)
Inuinnaqtun (Northwest Territories and Nunavut)
Inuktitut (Northwest Territories and Nunavut)
Inuvialuktun (Northwest Territories)
Mi'kmaq (Nova Scotia)
North Slavey (Northwest Territories)
South Slavey (Northwest Territories)
Tłı̨chǫ (Northwest Territories)

Chipewyan
Cree
Gwich'in
Inuinnaqtun
Inuktitut
Inuvialuktun
Mi'kmaq
North Slavey
South Slavey
Tłı̨chǫ

| Portuguese

| Cape Verdean Creole

French
Sango

Arabic
French

| Spanish

Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories

| Standard Chinese

English (Hong Kong)
Portuguese (Macau)

Mongolian
Uyghur
Tibetan
Zhuang
Kazakh
Korean

|Other Sinitic languages

| Spanish

| Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories

Arabic
Comorian
French

| French

Kituba
Lingala
Swahili
Tshiluba

| French

Lingala
Munukutuba

English
Cook Islands Māori

| Spanish

Indigenous languages
Limonese Creole

| Croatian

Serbian
Hungarian
Czech
Slovak
Pannonian Rusyn

Italian (Istria County)
Romani (non-territorial)
Slovene (non-territorial)

English

| Spanish

Greek
Turkish
Cypriot Arabic
Tetum

Spanish

| Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories

Spanish
Kichwa
Shuar

| Arabic

| Coptic

| Egyptian Arabic

| English

| Spanish

French
Portuguese
Spanish

| Tigrinya

Arabic
Italian

| Estonian

English
Russian

English
Swazi

Afar
Amharic
Oromo
Somali
Tigrinya

Afar
Amharic
Benshangul
Gumuz
Harari
Kunama
Oromo
Sidamo
Somali
Tigrinya

English
Fijian
Fiji Hindi
Standard Hindi

Finnish
Swedish

| Sami (in Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä, Utsjoki)

Finnish
Swedish

English

| French

Corsican language
Basque language
Breton language

|Occitan language

| French

| English

Wolof
Mandinka
Pulaar
Soninke
Jola
Serer
Mandjak
Bainuk
Kiriol

| Georgian

|Russian

| German

Danish (in Schleswig-Holstein)
Lower Sorbian (in Brandenburg)
North Frisian (in Schleswig-Holstein)
Saterland Frisian (in Lower Saxony)
Upper Sorbian (in Saxony)
German Sign Language
Low German

Danish
Lower Sorbian
North Frisian
Romani
Upper Sorbian

English

| English

Fante
Asante Twi
Akuapem Twi
Adangme (in Greater Accra)
Dagaare (in the Upper West Region)
Dagbani (in the Northern Region)
Ewe (in the Volta Region)
Ga (in Greater Accra)
Gonja (in the Northern Region)
Kasem (in the Upper East Region)
Nzema (in the Western Region)

| Greek

| English

| Spanish

Garifuna
Maya
Xinca

| French

Fula
Maninka
Susu

| Portuguese

| English

| Guyanese Creole

French
Haitian Creole

| Spanish

Cantonese
English

| Hungarian

Croatian
German

|24

|2 official languages:

Hindi
English

22 additional official languages:

Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Meitei (Manipuri)
Marathi
Nepali
Odia (Oriya),
Punjabi
Sanskrit
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu

Hundreds of regional languages:

Assamese
Awadhi
Bengali
Bhili
Bhojpuri
Boro
Chhattisgarhi
Dogri
Indian English
Garhwali
Garo
Gondi
Gujarati
Haryanvi
Hindi
Ho
Kannada
Kashmiri
Khasi
Konkani
Kumaoni
Maithili
Meitei
Marathi
Mizo
Nepali
Odia
Punjabi
Rajasthani languages
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu

| No national language

|Indonesian

Javanese (in Yogyakarta)

| Indonesian

Indonesian
Malay
Javanese
Sundanese
Batak
Minangkabau
700 more languages in Indonesia

| Persian

Azerbaijani
Kurdish
Luri
Gilaki
Mazanderani
Balochi
Arabic
Qashqai
Tati
Turkmeni

|Persian

Arabic
Kurdish

Armenian recognized
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (in Assyrian areas)
Iraqi Turkmen (in Turkmen areas)

Irish
English

| Irish

| Hebrew

| Arabic

| English

Russian
English

| Italian

French (in Aosta Valley)
Franco-Provençal (in Aosta Valley)
German (in South Tyrol)
Ladin (in South Tyrol)
Friulian (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
Sardinian (in Sardinia)
Corsican (in northern Sardinia)

Catalan (in Sardinia)
Slovene (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
Occitan (in Piedmont's Occitan valleys)
Albanian (in Sicily and Calabria)
Greek (in Calabria and Puglia)

|Other Italo-Dalmatian languages

| French

| English

|Jamaican Patois

| Jamaican Patois

| None (Japanese has de facto status)

| Japanese

| Arabic

Circassian
Chechen
Armenian

Kazakh
Russian

| Kazakh

English
Swahili

| Swahili

English
Gilbertese

| Korean

Korean
Korean Sign Language

Albanian
Serbian

| Turkish

Albanian (nationwide)
Serbian (Northern Kosovo)

| Arabic

Kuwaiti Sign Language
Kuwaiti Arabic
Kuwaiti Persian

Kyrgyz
Russian

| Kyrgyz

| Lao

| French

| Latvian

|Russian

| Arabic

|Arabic

|Armenian

Arabic
English
French

Arabic
English
French

Sesotho
English

| Sotho

| English

| Arabic

| German

| Lithuanian

Polish
Russian

French
German
Luxembourgish

| Luxembourgish

English
Portuguese

Cantonese
Portuguese

French
Malagasy

| Malagasy

English

| Chichewa

|Malay

|Regional/State dialects

|Malay

Malay
Mandarin Chinese
Cantonese
Tamil
English

| Dhivehi

| English

|13

Bambara
Bobo
Bozo
Dogon
Fula
Hassaniya
Kassonke
Maninke
Minyanka
Senufo
Songhay languages
Soninke
Tamasheq

| French

Maltese
English

| Maltese

| Italian

English
Marshallese

| Arabic

Arabic
Fula
Soninke
Wolof

| French

| None (English has de jure status and French has de facto status)

|English

| None (Spanish has de facto status)

| 68 National languages

| English

Chuukese (in Chuuk State)
Kosraean (in Kosrae State)
Pohnpeian (in Pohnpei State)
Yapese (in Yap State)

| Romanian

Gagauz
Russian
Ukrainian

| French

| Monégasque

| Mongolian

|Montenegrin

Arabic
Berber

Arabic
Berber

|French

| Portuguese

| (Burma)

| Burmese

Chin
Kachin
Karen
Karenni
Mon
Rakhine
Shan

|English

| English

German
Oshiwambo

| Afrikaans

English
Nauruan

| Nepali

| All languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal

|Dutch

Frisian (in the province of Friesland)
English (in Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba)
Papiamento (in Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire)

Dutch Low Saxon
Dutch Sign Language
Limburgish
Sinte Romani
Yiddish

English

Māori language
New Zealand Sign Language
(English has de facto status)

Tokelauan language (in Tokelau)

| Spanish

| In Autonomous Regions:

Creole
Garifuna
Mayangna
Miskito
Rama
Sumo

| Hausa

Arabic
French
Fulfulde
Gulmancema
Kanuri
Zarma
Tamazight

| English

Hausa
Yoruba
Igbo

English
Hausa

English
Niuean

Macedonian
Albanian

| Turkish

Norwegian
Sami languages

Northern Sami
Lule Sami
Southern Sámi
Kven

Kven
Scandoromani

Bokmål (written)
Nynorsk (written)

English

| Arabic

|Shehri

Urdu
English

Punjabi
Sindhi
Pashto
Balochi

| Urdu

Punjabi
Balochi
Sindhi
Pashto

English
Palauan

Sonsorolese (in Sonsorol)
Tobian (in Hatohobei)
Japanese (in Angaur)

| Arabic

English
Hebrew

| Spanish

English
Hiri Motu
PNG Sign Language
Tok Pisin

Spanish
Guaraní

| Spanish

| Quechua, Aymara and other native languages are official wherever they predominate.

Filipino
English

Aklanon (in the Visayas)
Bikol (in Luzon)
Cebuano (in the Visayas and Mindanao)
Chavacano (in Mindanao)
Hiligaynon (in the Visayas)
Ibanag (in Luzon)
Ilocano (in Luzon, official in La Union)
Ivatan (in Luzon)
Kapampangan (in Luzon)
Kinaray-a (in the Visayas)
Maguindanao (in Mindanao)
Maranao (in Mindanao)
Pangasinan (in Luzon)
Sambal (in Luzon)
Tagalog (in Luzon)
Tausug (in Mindanao)
Waray (in the Visayas)
Yakan (in Mindanao)

Arabic (optional language)
Spanish (optional language)
Over 100 more minority languages

Filipino
Filipino Sign Language (national sign language)

| Polish

Kashubian (Pomeranian Voivodeship)
German (Opole Voivodeship)
Lithuanian (Puńsk commune)
Belarusian (Podlaskie Voivodseship)

Lemko
Karaim
Tatar
Ukrainian

English

| Portuguese

| Mirandese (Terra de Miranda)

English

| Arabic

| Romanian

Armenian
German
Hungarian
Romani
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Tatar
Turkish
Ukrainian

| Russian

Ossetic
Ukrainian
Belarusian
Buryat
Kalmyk
Chechen
Ingush
Abaza
Adyghe
Tsakhur
Lezgian
Cherkess
Kabardian
Altai
Bashkir
Chuvash
Crimean Tatar
Karachay-Balkar
Khakas
Nogai
Tatar
Tuvan
Yakut
Erzya
Komi
Hill Mari
Meadow Mari
Karelian
Moksha
Veps
Ingrian
Ludian
Udmurt

English
French
Kinyarwanda
Swahili

| Kinyarwanda

Arabic
Spanish

|Arabic

| English

English
Samoan

| Italian

| Portuguese

| Arabic

Faifi
Razihi
Mehri

Indian Languages
Filipino
Bengali

| French

Jola-Fogny
Mandinka
Pulaar
Serer
Soninke
Wolof

| Serbian

| (15 languages)

English
French
Seychellois Creole

| English

| Krio

English
Malay
Mandarin Chinese
Tamil

| Malay

| Slovak

Bulgarian
Czech
German
Hungarian
Polish
Romani
Rusyn
Serbian
Ukrainian

| Slovene

Hungarian (Dobrovnik, Hodoš, Lendava)
Italian (Izola, Koper, Piran)
Croatian (Metlika, Brežice)

English

Somali
Arabic

Arabic
English
Somali

|12

Afrikaans
English
Southern Ndebele
Sotho
Northern Sotho
Swazi
Tsonga
Tswana
Venda
Xhosa
Zulu
SA Sign Language

Ossetian
Russian

| Georgian

| English

Bari
Dinka
Luo
Murle
Nuer
Zande
(60 other languages)

| Spanish

Catalan (Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencian Community)
Galician (Galicia)
Occitan (Catalonia)
Basque (Basque Country, Navarra)

Astur-Leonese (Asturias, León, Zamora, Salamanca, Cáceres)
Aragonese (Aragon)
Fala (Province of Cáceres)
Portuguese
Galician (Asturias, León, Zamora)
Catalan (Aragon, Carche)

Sinhala
Tamil

English

Arabic
English

| Dutch

| Sranan Tongo

| Swedish

Finnish (Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala, Övertorneå)
Meänkieli (Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala, Övertorneå)
Sami (Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk, Kiruna)
Yiddish
Romani

|English

French (Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais, Vaud)
German (Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Glarus, Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Saint Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Uri, Valais, Zug, Zürich)
Italian (Ticino, Graubünden)
Romansh (Graubünden)

| Arabic

| Kurdish

Assyrian
Western Neo-Aramaic
Armenian

| None (Mandarin Chinese has de facto status)

Taiwanese Mandarin
Taiwanese Hokkien
Taiwanese Hakka
Formosan languages
Taiwan Sign Language
Matsu dialect
Wuqiu dialect

| Tajik

| Russian

Swahili
English

| Swahili

| Thai

Central Thai
Isan
Northern Thai
Southern Thai

Sixty-two 'domestic' languages are officially recognized

| Burmese

| French

English
Tongan

Moldovan
Russian
Ukrainian

| English

| Trinidadian Creole

| Arabic

| Turkish

| Kurdish

|Turkish

| Turkmen

| Russian

Tuvaluan
English

Tuvaluan
English

English
Swahili

| Ukrainian

Russian (Autonomous Republic of Crimea)
Crimean Tatar (Autonomous Republic of Crimea)

| Arabic

|English

| and Crown dependencies etc.

| None (English has de facto status)

Irish and Ulster-Scots (in Northern Ireland)
Scots and Scottish Gaelic (in Scotland)
Welsh (in Wales)
Pitcairnese (in Pitcairn Islands)
Guernésiais and French (in Guernsey)
Jèrriais and French (in Jersey)
Manx (in Isle of Man)

| None (English has de facto status)

| (28 languages)

indigenous languages of recognized federal tribes

English

Uruguayan Sign Language (Spanish has de facto status)

|Uzbek

Uzbek
Karakalpak and Uzbek in Karakalpakstan

| Russian

English
French
Bislama

Italian
Latin

|Swiss German

Spanish

| Native languages are official for indigenous peoples

| Vietnamese

Cantonese
Cham
Hmong
Khmer
Lao
Muong
Rade
Tay
Thai
Vietnamese sign languages

| Vietnamese

| Arabic

Mehri
Soqotri

| English

|16

Chewa
Chibarwe
English
Kalanga
Khoisan
Nambya
Ndau
Ndebele
Shangani
Shona
Sign language
Sotho
Tonga
Tswana
Venda
Xhosa

List of languages by number of countries in which they are the 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 (*)

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!Language

!World

!Africa

!Americas

!Asia

!Europe

!Oceania

!Countries

|English

|57

|22

|14

|United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India, Nigeria (See the full list)

|French

|26

|18

| –

|France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Madagascar, Monaco, Haiti, Vanuatu (See the full list)

|Arabic

|24–26*

|12–14*

| –

|12

| –

|Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Palestine (See the full list)

|Spanish

|21–22*

|1–2*

|19

| –

|Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Equatorial Guinea (See the full list)

|Portuguese

| –

|Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, East Timor (See the full list)

|German

| –

|Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein (See the full list)

|Russian

|4–7*

| –

|2–5*

| –

|Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Abkhazia,* South Ossetia,* Transnistria* (See the full list)

|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

| –

|Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City

|Malay

| –

|Malaysia, Indonesia (known as Indonesian), Singapore, Brunei

|Swahili

| –

| Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

|Berber

| –

|Algeria, Morocco, Mali

|Dutch

| –

|Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname

|Persian

| –

|Iran, Afghanistan (known as Dari), Tajikistan (known as Tajik)

|Sotho

| –

|South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe

|Tswana

| –

|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*

| –

|2-3*

| –

|Romania, Moldova, Transnistria*

|Somali

|2–3*

| –

|Somalia, Ethiopia, Somaliland*

|Turkish

|2–3*

| –

|2–3*

| –

|Turkey, Northern Cyprus,* Cyprus

|Aymara

| –

|Bolivia and Peru

|Bengali

| –

| 2

| –

|Bangladesh and India

|Chichewa

| –

|Malawi and Zimbabwe

|Fula

| –

|Mali and Burkina Faso

|Greek

| –

|Greece and Cyprus

|Guarani

| –

|Paraguay and Bolivia

|Hindi

| –

|India and Fiji

|Korean

| –

|North Korea and South Korea

|Quechua

| –

|Bolivia and Peru

|Rwanda-Rundi

| –

|Burundi (known as Kirundi) and Rwanda (known as Kinyarwanda)

|Swati

| –

|Eswatini and South Africa

|Swedish

| –

|Sweden and Finland

|Tamil

| –

|Sri Lanka and Singapore

|Tigrinya

| –

|Eritrea and Ethiopia

|Venda

| –

|South Africa and Zimbabwe

Notes

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References

External links

Languages - CIA listing of languages spoken in each country

Definitions

List

List of languages by number of countries in which they are the official language

Notes

See also

References

External links