African Countries Country Official and national Languages Other spoken Languages Algeria Arabic, Berber languages, four dialects (by constitutional amendment) French Angola Portuguese Narrow Bantu like Umbundu and other African languages. Benin French Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north). Botswana Setswana (national language with minor differences in dialects), English is the official business language and it is widely spoken in urban areas. Burkina Faso French Native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population. Burundi Kirundi, French Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area). Cameroon English, French 24 major African language groups. Cape Verde Portuguese Kabuverdianu (Crioulo) (a blend of Portuguese and West African words). Central African Republic French, Sangho (lingua franca and national language) Banda, Gbaya and other tribal languages. Chad French, Arabic Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects. Comoros Arabic, French Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic). Democratic Republic of the Congo French Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba. Congo, Republic of the French Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread). Côte d'Ivoire French 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken. Djibouti French, Arabic Somali, Afar Egypt Arabic English and French widely understood by educated classes. Equatorial Guinea Spanish, French pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo. Eritrea Tigrinya (Tigrigna), Arabic, English Tigré (second major language), Afar, Bedawi, Kunama, other Cushitic languages. Ethiopia Amharic Tigrinya, Oromo, Gurage, Somali, Arabic, 80 other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools) Gabon French Bantu languages like Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi. Gambia, The English Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars. Ghana English African languages (including Akan, Adangme, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga) Guinea French (spoken by 15-20%) Eight national languages, Soussou (Susu, in coastal Guinea), Peulh (Fulani, in Northrn Guinea), Maninka (Upper Guinea), Kissi (Kissidougou Region), Toma and Guerze (Kpelle) in rain forest Guinea; plus various ethnic groups with their own language. Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Crioulo (a mixture of Portuguese and African), other African languages. Kenya English, Kiswahili numerous indigenous languages. Lesotho Sesotho (southern Sotho), English Zulu, Xhosa. Liberia English 20% some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Arabic Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities. Madagascar French, Malagasy Malawi English, Nyanja (Chichewa, Chewa) Lomwe, Tumbuka, Yao, other languages important regionally. Mali French Bambara (Bamanakan), Arabic and numerous dialects of Dogoso, Fulfulde, Koyracini, Senoufou, and Mandinka/Malinké (Maninkakan), Tamasheq are also widely spoken. Mauritania Arabic Hassaniya Arabic, Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, French Mauritius English, French Creole, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri Morocco Arabic Berber dialects, French often the language of business, government, and diplomacy. Mozambique Portuguese (spoken by 27% of population as a second language) Makhuwa, Tsonga, Lomwe, Sena, numerous other indigenous languages. Namibia English 7% Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama. Niger French Hausa, Djerma Nigeria English Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, Ijaw, Ibibio and about 250 other indigenous languages spoken by the different ethnic groups. Réunion French Creole widely used Rwanda Rwanda (Kinyarwanda, Bantu vernacular) French, English Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers. Saint Helena English São Tomé and Príncipe Portuguese Senegal French Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka Seychelles English, French Creole Sierra Leone English (regular use limited to literate minority) Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English based Creole a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%) Somalia Somali Arabic, Italian, English South Africa 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Pedi, Sesotho (Sotho), siSwati (Swazi), Xitsonga (Tsonga), Tswana, Tshivenda (Venda), isiXhosa, isiZulu Sudan Arabic Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English. note: program of "Arabization" in process Swaziland English (government business conducted in English), siSwati Tanzania, United Republic of Kiswahili (Swahili), Kiunguju (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (primary language of commerce, administration, and Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), Gogo, Haya, Makonde, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, Sukuma, Tumbuka, many other local languages. higher education) Togo French (the language of commerce) Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (Kabiye) and Dagomba (two major African languages in the north) Tunisia Arabic (and the languages of commerce) French (commerce) Uganda English (used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts) Ganda (Luganda; most widely used of the Niger Congo languages, preferred for native language publications), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Acoli, Swahili, Arabic Western Sahara Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic Zambia English major vernaculars: Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages. Zimbabwe English Chishona (Shona), Sindebele (Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects like: Sotho and Nambya, Shangani, Venda, Chewa, Nyanja, and Tonga. Asian Countries Country Official and national Languages Other spoken Languages Afghanistan Pashtu (Pushtu), Dari Persian other Turkic and minor languages. Armenia Armenian (Hayeren) is an independent, one-language subgroup within the Indo-European language family. The unique Armenian alphabet, which consists of 39 characters, was created in 405 AD by a monk named Mesrop Mashtots. Russian widely used Azerbaijan Azerbaijani (Azeri; a Turkic language of the Altaic family) 89% Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other 6% Bahrain Arabic (Arabiyya) English, Farsi, Urdu Bangladesh Bengali (Bangla) English Bhutan Bhutanese (Dzongkha) The Bhotes (the principal ethnic majority 50%) speak various Tibetan dialects like Tshanglakha and Khenkha, Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects like Lhotsamkha. Brunei Malay, English Chinese Darussalam Cambodia Khmer spoken by more than 95% of the population (Khmer language is influenced by spoken and written Thai) some French still spoken, English increasingly popular as a second language. China Putonghua (Mandarin) Wu (spoken in Shanghai), Yue (Cantonese) and other Chinese dialects like Min, Hakka (Kejia), Gan and Xiang. Cyprus Greek, Turkish English Georgia Georgian Russian, Armenian, Azeri and other. note: Abkhaz is official language in Abkhazia. India Hindi, English (the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication) Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Panjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu Indonesia Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay) English, Dutch, local dialects, the most widely spoken of which is Javanese. Iran Persian and Persian dialects 58% (Farsi) Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic Iraq Arabic (Arabiyya), Kurdish (official since 8 March 2004) Assyrian (Syriac-Aramaic), Armenian, Turcoman Israel Hebrew (Ivrit), Arabic Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Tat, Judeo Berber, English -is the major foreign language. Japan Japanese (Nihongo) Ryukyuan Languages Jordan Arabic (Arabiyya) English widely understood among upper and middle classes. Kazakhstan Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% Korea (North) Korean (Choso'nmal or Choson'o) Korea (South) Korean (Hangungmal); Korean is written in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. English widely taught in junior high and high school. Kuwait Arabic (Arabiyya) English widely spoken. Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz, Russian note: in December 2001, the Kyrgyzstani legislature made Russian an official language, equal in status to Kyrgyz. Laos Lao French, English, and various ethnic languages Lebanon Arabic (Arabiyya) French, English, Armenian Macau Putonghua (Mandarin), Portuguese everyone speaks Yue Chinese (Cantonese), English is used as a "working language". Malaysia Bahasa Melayu English, Chinese dialects, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; note: in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest are Iban and Kadazan. Maldives Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic) English spoken by most government officials. Mongolia Khalkha Mongol (a branch of the Altaic family) Turkic, Russian Myanmar (Burma) Burmese 135 minority ethnic groups have their own languages. Nepal Nepali (official and lingua franca of the country) 90% sixty ethnic groups, who speak seventy different dialects and eleven major languages like Tibeto Burman, Lhotsamkha, Nepalbhasa, Tamang languages; minorities Bhutanese (Dzongkha), Tibetan languages, possibly Chinese dialects. many in government and business also speak English Oman Arabic (Arabiyya) English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects. Palestine Arabic (Arabiyya), Hebrew (Ivrit, spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians) English (widely understood) Pakistan Urdu 8%, English (official and "lingua franca" of Pakistani elite and most government ministries) Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko Brahui 1%, Burushaski, and other 8% Philippines Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English. Filipino is the national language. English is also widely used and is the medium of instruction in higher education. Major dialects: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense. Qatar Arabic (Arabiyya) English commonly used as a second language. Saudi Arabia Arabic (Arabiyya) Singapore Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English Sri Lanka Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population. Syria Arabic (Arabiyya) Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood. Taiwan Chinese Mandarin (PuTongHua) Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects. Tajikistan Tajik Russian widely used in government and business. Thailand Thai English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects Timor-Leste Tetum, Portuguese Indonesian, English; note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people. Turkey Turkish (türkçe) Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek Turkmenistan Turkmen 72% Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% United Arab Arabic (Arabiyya) Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu Emirates Uzbekistan Uzbek 74.3% Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1% Viet Nam Vietnamese English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian) Yemen Arabic (Arabiyya) Languages by Countries Country Official and national Languages Other spoken Languages Anguilla English Antigua and Barbuda English local dialects, Creole English Argentina Spanish English, Italian, German, French Aruba Dutch Papiamento (Creole with Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English roots), English (widely spoken), Spanish Bahamas English Creole (among Haitian immigrants) Barbados English Belize English Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), Creole Bolivia Spanish, Quechua, Aymara Brazil Portuguese Spanish, English, French, American Indian languages Canada English 59%, French 23%; (Canada's Territory Nunavut wants that Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun become official) 53 native Inuit and American-Indian languages (18%). Cayman Islands English Chile Spanish Colombia Spanish American Indian languages Costa Rica Spanish English Cuba Spanish Dominica English French patois Dominican Republic Spanish Ecuador Spanish Quechua and other Amerindian languages. El Salvador Spanish Nahua (among some Amerindians) French Guiana French Grenada English French patois Guadeloupe French 99% Creole patois Guatemala Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca) Guyana English Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu Haiti French, Creole Honduras Spanish Amerindian dialects Jamaica English most Jamaicans speak an English-based dialect which is known as Patois. Martinique French Creole patois Mexico Spanish various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages. Nicaragua Spanish English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast. Panama Spanish English 14% Paraguay Spanish, Guarani Peru Spanish, Quechua Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages. Puerto Rico Spanish, English Saint Kitts and Nevis English Saint Lucia English French patois Suriname Dutch Sranan Tongo, a Creole language contains elements from English, Portugese, Dutch, and influences from African and Indian languages; Hindi, Javanese, Maroon and indigenous people languages. Trinidad and Tobago English Hindi, French, Spanish, Chinese. United States English (not official language) Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority) Uruguay Spanish Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) Venezuela Spanish numerous indigenous dialects Virgin Islands English Spanish, Creole ___ Official and Spoken Languages of Australia and the Pacifics. List of official, national and spoken languages of the Pacifics. Countries of the Pacifics Country Official and national Languages Other spoken Languages American Samoa English Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian other Polynesian languages), note: most bilingual Australia English native languages Cook Islands English Maori Fiji English Fijian, Hindustani French Polynesia French Tahitian Guam English Chamorro, Japanese Kiribati English I-Kiribati Marshall Islands English, Marshallese, (two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family) Japanese Micronesia (Federated States of) English Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi Nauru Nauruan (a distinct Pacific Island language), English English is widely understood, spoken, used for most government and commercial purposes. New Caledonia French 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects. New Zealand English, Maori Niue English Niuean (a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan). Northern Mariana Islands English Chamorro, Carolinian; note: 86% of population language other than English at home. Palau English and Palauan official in all states except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official) Papua New Guinea Hiri Motu (in Papua region), Tok Pisin, English (spoken by 1%-2%) Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, 823! living indigenous languages. Pitcairn English Pitcairnese (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect) Samoa Samoan (Polynesian), English Solomon Islands English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population Melanesian pidgin is lingua franca of the country; note: 120 indigenous languages Tonga Tongan, English Tuvalu English Tuvaluan, Samoan, I-Kiribati (on the of Nui) Vanuatu English, French, Bislama (Bichelama) plus more than 100 local languages. European Countries Country Official and national Languages Other spoken Languages Albania Albanian (Shqip, Tosk (Toskë) is the official dialect) Shqip-Gheg dialect (Gegë), Greek, Italian Andorra Catalan French, Castilian, Portuguese Austria German, Slovene (official in Carinthia), Croatian and Hungarian (official in Burgenland) Belarus Belarusian, Russian Belgium Dutch 60%, French 40%, German less than 1% Bosnia & Herzegovina Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Bulgaria Bulgarian Turkish Croatia Croatian (hrvatski) Cyprus Greek, Turkish, English Czech Republic Czech (cestina) Denmark Danish (dansk) Standard German Estonia Estonian (eesti keel) Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish Faroe Islands Faroese, Danish Finland Finnish (suomi) 93.4%, Swedish 5.9% small Sami-and Russian-speaking minorities France French (français) Germany German (Deutsch) Gibraltar English Llanito (a mixture of Spanish and English), Spanish Greece Greek (elliniká, the Koine-Demotic version) Turkish (Northern Greece) Greenland Greenlandic Inuktitut (Kalaallisut), Danish Hungary Hungarian (magyar) German, Romanian Iceland Icelandic English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken. Ireland Irish (Gaeilge), English (generally used), Italy Italian (italiano) Latvia Latvian (latviesu valoda) Lithuanian, Russian Liechtenstein German Lithuania Lithuanian (lietuviu kalba) Polish, Russian Luxembourg Luxembourgish (LÎtzebuergesch, the everyday spoken language), French (administrative language), German (administrative language) Macedonia, Rep. of Macedonian 68%, Albanian 25% Malta Maltese (Malti) English Moldova Moldovan (virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect) Monaco French Monegasque, English, Italian, Montenegro Serbo-Croatian (Ijekavian dialect -official) Netherlands Dutch (Nederlands, official language), Frisian (official language) Norway Norwegian (nynorsk and bokmal) small Sami-and Finnish-speaking minorities Poland Polish (polski) Portugal Portuguese (português) Romania Romanian (romana) Hungarian, German Russian Federation Russian San Marino Italian Serbia Serbian 95%, Albanian 5% Slovakia Slovak (slovensky jazyk) Hungarian Slovenia Slovenian (slovenski jezik) Spain Spanish (español -the Castilian version) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% note: Castilian is the official language nationwide; the other languages are official regionally. Sweden Swedish (svenska) small Sami-and Finnish-speaking minorities. Switzerland German 63.7%, French 19.2%, Italian 7.6%, Romansch 0.6% Turkey Turkish (türkçe) Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek Ukraine Ukrainian United Kingdom English Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) Vatican City State Latin, Italian French and various other languages