List of territorial entities where Afrikaans and Dutch are official languages
Percentages of Afrikaans and Dutch speakers (assuming a rounded total of 46 million) worldwide.
The following is a list of the territorial entities where Afrikaans and Dutch are official languages. It includes countries, which have Afrikaans and/or Dutch as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent territories with Afrikaans and/or Dutch as a co-official language.
Worldwide, Afrikaans and Dutch as native or second language are spoken by approximately 46 million people. There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages,[1][2][3] particularly in written form.[4][5][6] As an estimated 90 to 95% of Afrikaans vocabulary is ultimately of Dutch origin,[7][8][9] there are few lexical differences between the two languages;[10] however, Afrikaans has a considerably more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling.[1][5]
Afrikaans and Dutch as official languages[edit]
Afrikaans and/or Dutch are the official language of five sovereign countries, which lie in the Americas, Africa Europe. These countries are referred to as the Nederlands taalgebied (Dutch language area). The Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname are member states of the Dutch Language Union; South Africa refuses to become a member state although Afrikaans is integrated in the task statement of the Dutch Language Union.
| Country | Population 2011[11] |
Speakers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (native)[12][13][14] | (second)[12][13][14] | |||
 Kingdom of the Netherlands |
17,116,000 | 15,449,000 (90%) | 687,000 (4%) | De facto national language |
 South Africa |
51,770,000 | 6,860,000 (14%) | 10,300,000 (19%) | De jure nationwide co-official language |
 Belgium |
11,303,000 | 6,215,000 (55%) | 1,469,000 (13%) | De jure nationwide co-official language (majority language in Flemish Region and minority in Brussels-Capital Region) |
 Suriname |
540,000 | 325,000 (60%) | 215,000 (40%) | De jure sole nationwide official language |
 Namibia |
2,113,000 | 220.000 (10,4%) | lingua franca | Recognized national language |
| Total | 82,834,000 | 29,069,000 | 12,671,000+ | |
Dependent entities[edit]
Afrikaans and/or Dutch are co-official language in several dependent entities. At certain administrative levels in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Belgium the Dutch language is a co-official language. The same happens with Afrikaans in South Africa.
Kingdom of the Netherlands[edit]
In the Kingdom of the Netherlands Dutch is the only language that has an official status in all spheres of administration. At the federal level, in most provinces and municipalities Dutch is the sole administrative language. However, in some constituent countries, a province and some municipalities Dutch is a co-official language, together with West Frisian, Papiamento or English.
| Region | Status of the region | Status of the language | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Aruba |
constituent country | Dutch is a co-official language, together with Papiamento | |
 Curaçao |
constituent country | Dutch is a co-official language, together with Papiamentu and English | |
| Netherlands |
constituent country | Dutch is the de facto national language, except for Friesland and the Caribbean Netherlands | |
 Friesland |
province | Dutch is a co-official language, together with West Frisian | |
 Bonaire |
municipality | Dutch is a co-official language, together with Papiamentu | |
 Sint Eustatius |
municipality | Dutch is a co-official language, together with English | |
 Saba |
municipality | Dutch is a co-official language, together with English | |
 Sint Maarten |
constituent country | Dutch is a co-official language, together with English | |
Belgium[edit]
At the federal level Dutch, French and German are co-official languages. In the Flanders Region Dutch is the sole official language. In Brussels-Capital Region Dutch and French are co-official languages. In the Wallonia Region French and German are co-official languages, but in 4 municipalities limited government services are also available in Dutch.
| Region | Status of the region | Status of the language | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen) |
Region | Dutch is the sole official language. In 12 municipalities limited government services are also available in French | |
 Wallonia (Dutch: Wallonië) |
Region | French and German are the sole official language in different areas. In 4 municipalities limited government services are also available in Dutch | |
 Comines-Warneton (Dutch: Komen-Waasten) |
municipality | French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch | |
 Enghien (Dutch: Edingen) |
municipality | French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch | |
 Flobecq (Dutch: Vloesberg) |
municipality | French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch | |
 Mouscron (Dutch: Moeskroen) |
municipality | French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch | |
 Brussels-Capital Region (Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest) |
Region | Dutch and French are co-official languages | |
South Africa[edit]
Between 1910 and 1961 Dutch was a co-official official language of South Africa, together with English. In 1961 Dutch was replaced by Afrikaans as a co-official language. However, between 1925 and 1984 Dutch and Afrikaans were seen as two varieties of the same language by the Official Languages of the Union Act, 1925 and later article 119 of the South African Constitution of 1961. After a short period (1984-1994) where Afrikaans and English were the two co-official languages of South Africa, Afrikaans has been one of eleven official languages since 1994.
Since 2012 a new language policy has been implemented where working languages of all government institutions were established. Every government institution is required to establish three working languages out of the eleven official languages. Provinces and municipalities are obligated to taken into account the local language demographics before establishing three working languages.
| Region | Status of the region | Status of the language | |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Coat of arms of the Western Cape.png Western Cape (Afrikaans: Wes-Kaap) | province | Afrikaans is a co-official language, together with English and Xhosa | |
 City of Cape Town (Afrikaans: Stad Kaapstad) |
municipality | Afrikaans is a co-official language, together with English and Xhosa. Afrikaans is the mother tongue of half of the population | |
| File:Northern Cape-coa.png Northern Cape (Afrikaans: Noord-Kaap) | province | Afrikaans is a co-official language, together with Tswhana, Xhosa and English. Afrikaans is the mother tongue of the majority of the population | |
Other legal statuses[edit]
Dutch is not an official language in Indonesia, but the language is widely used in Indonesia as a source language after a 350-year colonial period. Certainly in law, Dutch has some official status as many colonial laws are available in Dutch only.
Although Dutch is the native language of people in French Flanders, Dutch is not an official language in France or French Flanders.
International institutions[edit]
Afrikaans and/or Dutch are an official languages of the following international institutions:
Benelux Union (nld)[15]- African Union (afr)
Caribbean Community (nld)
European Union (nld)
Union of South American Nations (nld)- Dutch Language Union (afr/nld)
See also[edit]
- Afrikaans speaking population in South Africa
- Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch
- Dutch Language Union
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Holm, Jdohn A. (1989). Pidgins and Creoles: References survey. Cambridge University Press. p. 338. Retrieved 2010-05-19. Search this book on
- ↑ Baker, Colin; Prys Jones, Sylvia (1997). Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education. Multilingual Matters Ltd. p. 302. Retrieved 2010-05-19. Search this book on
- ↑ Egil Breivik, Leiv; Håkon Jahr, Ernst (1987). Language change: contributions to the study of its causes. Walter de Gruyter. p. 232. Retrieved 2010-05-19. Search this book on
- ↑ Sebba, Mark (2007). Spelling and society: the culture and politics of orthography around the world. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2010-05-19. Search this book on
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sebba, Mark (1997). Contact languages: pidgins and creoles. Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved 2010-05-19. Search this book on
- ↑ Gooskens, Charlotte (2007). "The Contribution of Linguistic Factors to the Intelligibility of Closely Related Languages" (PDF). Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Volume 28, Issue 6 November 2007. University of Groningen. pp. 445–467. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
- ↑ Mesthrie, Rajend (1995). Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics. New Africa Books. p. 214. Retrieved 2008-08-23. Search this book on
- ↑ Brachin, Pierre; Vincent, Paul (1985). The Dutch Language: A Survey. Brill Archive. p. 132. Retrieved 2008-11-03. Search this book on
- ↑ Mesthrie, Rajend (2002). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 205. Retrieved 2010-05-18. Search this book on
- ↑ Sebba 1997, p. 161
- ↑ See: List of countries and dependencies by population
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Eurobarometer 2012 - Annex
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Afrikaans". Ethnologue.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Dutch". Ethnologue.
- ↑ Révision portant sur le traité de 1958(2008)
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