List of countries by official languages
This is a list of official, or otherwise administratively-recognized, languages of sovereign countries, regions, and supra-national institutions.
Official languages of sovereign countries[edit]
- South Africa (with English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Algeria (with French)
- Bahrain
- Chad
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Jordan
- Iraq (with Kurdish)
- Israel (with Hebrew)
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Maldives
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Nubia
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tunisia
- The United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
- Armenia (with Russian)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Bangladesh
- India (with English, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Assamese, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sanskrit, Sindhi)
- Andorra
- parts of Spain
- Balearic Islands (with Spanish)
- Catalonia (with Spanish)
- Valencia (called Valencian, with Spanish)
- part of Canada
- part of Canada
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (with Bosnian, Serbian)
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
- Denmark
- Faroe Islands (with Faroese)
- Greenland (with Inuktitut)
Dari:
- Afghanistan (with Pashtu)
- part of Canada
- Belgium (with French and German)
- The Netherlands
- Suriname
- United Kingdom (which includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland)
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Botswana (but the national language is Setswana)
- Canada (federally, with French)
- Cyprus (with Turkish and Greek (Hellenic))
- Fiji (with Bau Fijian and Hindustani)
- part of the People's Republic of China
- India (with Hindi and 14 other languages)
- Kenya (with Kiswahili)
- Kiribati
- Malta (with Maltese)
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea (with Tok Pisin and Motu)
- Republic of Ireland (with Irish)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- New Zealand (an official language by custom; the other by law is Māori)
- Singapore (with Malay, Tamil and Mandarin)
- Philippines (but the national language is Filipino)
- The Gambia
- English is an official language in the following states and territories of the United States of America.
- Hawaii (with Hawaiian language)
- New Mexico (with Spanish)
- Puerto Rico (with Spanish)
- Fiji (with English and Hindustani)
- Philippines (with English)
- Algeria (with Arabic)
- Belgium (with Dutch and German)
- Canada (federally, with English)
- New Brunswick (with English)
- Quebec
- Nunavut (with English, Inuktitut, and Inuvialuktun)
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- Yukon (with English)
- Cameroon
- Chad
- Congo-Brazzaville
- Congo-Kinshasa
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- France
- Haiti (with Haitian Creole)
- Ivory Coast
- Luxembourg (with German and Letzeburgish)
- part of Italy
- the Aosta Valley (with Italian)
- Monaco
- Senegal
- Switzerland (federally, with German, Rhaeto-Romantsch and Italian)
- Austria
- Belgium (with Dutch and French)
- Germany
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg (with French and Letzeburgish)
- part of Italy
- province of Bolzano-Bozen (with Italian and Ladin)
- Switzerland (with French, and Italian)
- 17 of the 26 cantons (unilingually German)
- Graubünden (with Italian and Romansh)
- Bern, Fribourg (with French)
- part of Canada
Haitian Creole is an official language of:
- Haiti (with French)
- Israel (with Arabic)
- India (with English and 14 other languages)
- Fiji (with English and Bau Fijian; known constitutionally as Hindustani as an umbrella term to cover Urdu, as well as Hindi.)
- Hungary
- part of Slovenia
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
- parts of Canada
- Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuvialuktun)
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Slavey)
- part of Denmark
- Greenland (with Danish)
Irish is the first official language of:
- Republic of Ireland (with English)
- Italy (with German, French, Ladin and Sardinian in some provinces)
- Switzerland (with German, French, and Rhaeto-Romansh)
- Ticino
- Graubünden (with German and Rhaeto-Romansh)
- San Marino
- Vatican City (with Latin)
- part of Slovenia
- part of Croatia
Lao:
- Malta (with English)
- New Zealand (with English)
- the People's Republic of China
- the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Singapore (with Malay, English and Tamil)
Moldovan (asserted by nationalists to be distinct from Romanian; most linguists remain skeptical):
Motu:
- Papua New Guinea (with English and Tok Pisin)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Val Varaita and Val Maira (Piedmont, Italy)
- Val d'Aran (Catalonia, Spain)
- Afghanistan (with Dari)
- Angola
- Brazil
- Cape Verde
- East Timor
- Guinea-Bissau
- part of the People's Republic of China
- Mozambique
- Portugal
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- part of Spain
- Moldova (known locally as Moldovan, and asserted by nationalists to be a separate language, an assertion disputed by most professional linguists)
- Romania
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
- Switzerland (with German, French, and Italian)
- Graubünden (with German and Italian)
- Armenia (with Armenian)
- Kazakhstan (with Kazakh)
- Russia
Sardinian is a partially official language of:
- Sri Lanka (with Tamil, and with English as a link language)
- part of Canada
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Argentina
- Bolivia (with Aymara and Quecha)
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea(with Bubi and Fang)
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Spain (Aranese, Basque, Catalan and Galician are co-official in some regions)
- Panama
- Paraguay(with Guarani)
- Peru (with Quechua)
- parts of the United States (co-official with English in New Mexico and Puerto Rico)
- Venezuela
- Uruguay
- Eswatini (with English)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Sweden
- Finland (with Finnish)
- Åland (unilingually Swedish) (an autonomous province under Finnish sovereignty)
- Singapore (with Malay, English and Mandarin)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Sri Lanka (with Sinhala, and with English as a link language)
- Papua New Guinea (with English and Motu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Turkey
- Cyprus (with Turkish and Greek (Hellenic))
Urdu:
- India (with Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Pakistan
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Wales (with English)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Zulu)
Zulu:
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa)
Official languages at the level of state or provincial unit only[edit]
- part of Spain
- Val d'Aran (with Catalan and Spanish)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)and lots of languages!!!! more than the ones that are listed
- part of Spain
- Basque Country (with Spanish)
- Bangladesh
- India (with English, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
Cree:
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- part of the Netherlands
- Friesland (with Dutch)
NOTE: Whether Galician is in fact a language, or a dialect of Portuguese, is a matter of debate among linguists.
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
Hawaiian is an official language in:
- part of the United States:
- Hawaii (with English)
- parts of Canada
- Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuktitut)
- Northwest Territories (included in Inuktitut; with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Slavey)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- part of Iraq (only in Kurdish regions, elsewhere Arabic is official)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sanskrit)
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Inuktitut)
- India (with English, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Zulu)
Zulu:
- South Africa (with Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda)
Related pages[edit]
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