List of official languages by state
From Wikipedia
This is a complete list of the official languages designated in the sovereign states of the world. It includes all languages that have official language status either statewide or in a part of the state, regional language status, or minority language status.
Only states, which are defined as sovereign, internationally recognised, independent political entities, are listed. This is not a list of countries or nations, although many states listed, are simultaneously also countries and/or nations.
For dependent territories, refer to the corresponding sovereign states.
Contents |
[edit] Definitions
- Official language: one 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: one designated as having official status limited to a specific area, administrative division, or territory of the state (on this page a regional language will have parentheses next to it that contain a region, province, etc. where the language has regional status)
- Minority language: (as used here) one spoken by a minority population within the state and officially designated as such; typically afforded protection and designated an officially permissible language for legal and government business in a specific area or territory of the state (on this page a minority language will be followed by parentheses that identify its minority status)
- National language: one that uniquely represents the national identity of a state, nation, and/or country and so designated by a country's government; some are technically minority languages (on this page a national language will be followed by parentheses that identify it as a national language status)
Template:CompactTOC2
[edit] A
- Afghanistan
- Arabic (statewide minority language)
- Balochi (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Dari (statewide)
- Nuristani (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Pashto (statewide)
- Pamiri (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Pashai (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Turkmen (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Uzbek (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Andorra
- Catalan
- Angola
- Portuguese
- Antigua and Barbuda
- English
- Argentina
- Spanish
- Guarani (Corrientes and Misiones)
- Australia
- No official language, English is the de facto official language.
- Austria
- Croatian (in Burgenland) (statewide minority language)
- Czech (statewide minority language)
- German (statewide)
- Hungarian (in Burgenland) (statewide minority language)
- Slovak (statewide minority language)
- Slovenian (in Styria and Carinthia) (statewide minority language)
- Romani (statewide minority language)
- Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijani
[edit] B
- Bahamas, The
- English
- Bahrain
- Arabic
- Bangladesh
- Bengali
- Barbados
- English
- Belarus
- Belarusian
- Russian
- Belgium
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Belize
- English
- Benin
- French
- Bhutan
- Dzongkha
- English
- Bolivia
- Aymara
- Quechua
- Spanish
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bosnian
- Croatian
- Serbian
- Botswana
- English
- Kalanga (national)
- Tswana (national)
- Brazil
- Portuguese
- Brunei
- Malay
- English
- Bulgaria
- Bulgarian
- Burkina Faso
- French
- Fula (national)
- Jula (national)
- More (national)
- Burundi
- French
- Kirundi
[edit] C
- Cambodia
- Khmer
- Cameroon
- English
- French
- Canada
- Chipewyan (in the Northwest Territories)
- Cree (in the Northwest Territories)
- Dogrib (in the Northwest Territories)
- English (national)
- French (national)
- Gwich’in (in the Northwest Territories)
- Inuinnaqtun (in Nunavut)
- Inuktitut (in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut)
- Inuvialuktun (in the Northwest Territories)
- Slavey (in the Northwest Territories)
- Cape Verde
- Cape Verdean Creole (national)
- Portuguese (official)
- Central African Republic
- French
- Sango (national)
- Chad
- Arabic
- French
- Chile
- Spanish
- China, People's Republic of
- Cantonese (in Hong Kong and Macau)
- English (in Hong Kong)
- Portuguese (in Macau)
- Kazakh (in Ili Kazakh, Xinjiang)
- Korean (in Changbai and Yanbian, Jilin)
- Mandarin (statewide, except Hong Kong and Macau)
- Mongolian (in Inner Mongolia)
- Tajik (in Taxkorgan, Xinjiang)
- Tibetan (in Tibet)
- Uyghur (in Xinjiang)
- Zhuang (in Guangxi)
- China, Republic of (Taiwan) - see below
- Colombia
- Spanish
- Comoros
- Arabic
- Comorian
- French
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- French
- Lingala (national)
- Kikongo (national)
- Swahili (national)
- Tshiluba (national)
- Congo, Republic of the
- French
- Lingala (national)
- Munukutuba (national)
- Costa Rica
- Spanish
- Côte d'Ivoire
- French
- Croatia
- Croatian (statewide)
- Italian (in Istria)
- Cuba
- Spanish
- Czech Republic
- Czech
[edit] D
- Denmark
- Danish (statewide)
- Faroese (in the Faroe Islands)
- Kalaallisut (in Greenland)
- Djibouti
- Arabic
- French
- Dominica
- English
- Dominican Republic
- Spanish
[edit] E
- East Timor
- English (working language)
- Indonesian (working language)
- Portuguese
- Tetum
- Ecuador
- Quechua
- Spanish
- Egypt
- Arabic
- El Salvador
- Spanish
- Equatorial Guinea
- French
- Spanish
- Eritrea
- Arabic (working language)
- Italian (working language)
- Tigrinya (working language)
- Estonia
- Estonian
- Ethiopia
- Amharic
[edit] F
- Fiji
- English
- Fijian
- Hindustani
- Finland
- Finnish (statewide, except in the Åland Islands)
- Sami (minority language in Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä, and Utsjoki)
- Swedish (statewide) (in the Åland Islands where Swedish is spoken monolingually)
- France and Overseas departments and territories of France.
- French (statewide)
- Tahitian (in French Polynesia)
- Italian (in Corsica)
[edit] G
- Gabon
- French
- Gambia, The
- English
- Mandinka (minority language)
- Wolof (minority language)
- Georgia
- Abkhaz (in Abkhazia)
- Georgian (statewide, except in Abkhazia and South Ossetia)
- Ossetic (in South Ossetia)
- Russian (in Abkhazia and South Ossetia)
- Germany
- Danish (in Schleswig-Holstein) (minority language)
- Frisian (in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony) (minority language)
- German (statewide)
- Romani (in Hesse)
- Lower Sorbian (in Brandenburg) (minority language)
- Upper Sorbian (in Saxony) (minority language)
- Ghana
- Adangme (in Greater Accra)
- Dagaare (in the Upper West Region)
- Dagbani (in the Northern Region)
- English (statewide)
- 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)
- Twi (in Akuapem, Akyem, Ashanti, Fanteakwa, Fante, and Kwahu)
- Greece
- Greek
- Italian (in Rhodes)
- Grenada
- English
- Guatemala
- Spanish
- Guinea
- French
- Fula (national)
- Guinea Bissau
- Portuguese
- Guyana
- English
[edit] H
- Haiti
- French
- Haitian Creole
- Honduras
- Spanish
- Hungary
- Hungarian
[edit] I
- Iceland
- Icelandic
- India
- Assamese (in Assam)
- Bengali (in Tripura and West Bengal)
- Bhojpuri (in Bihar)
- Bodo (in Assam)
- Chhattisgarhi (in Chhattisgarh)
- Dogri (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- English (statewide)
- French (in Puducherry)
- Garo (in Meghalaya)
- Gujarati (in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Gujarat)
- Hindi (statewide)
- Kannada (in Karnataka)
- Karbi (in Assam)
- Kashmiri (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- Khasi (in Meghalaya)
- Kokborok (in Tripura)
- Konkani (in Goa)
- Magadhi (Only in Bihar)
- Maithili (in Bihar)
- Malayalam (in Kerala, Pondicherry and Lakshadweep)
- Meitei (in Manipur)
- Marathi (in Maharashtra, Goa)
- Mizo (in Mizoram)
- Nepali (in Sikkim)
- Nicobarese (in Andaman and Nicobar Islands)
- Oriya (in Orissa)
- Pahari (in Himachal Pradesh)
- Punjabi (in Punjab)
- Rajasthani (in Rajasthan)
- Sanskrit (statewide)
- Santali (in Jharkhand)
- Sindhi (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- Tamil (in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry)
- Telugu (in Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry)
- Urdu (in Jammu and Kashmir and most muslim people)
- Indonesia
- Indonesian
- Iran
- Persian
- Iraq
- Arabic (statewide)
- Kurdish (in the Kurdish Autonomous Region)
- Ireland
- English (statewide)
- Irish (statewide)
- Scots (in Donegal) (minority language)
- Israel
- Hebrew
- Arabic
- Italy
- Italian (statewide)
- Albanian (in some parts of Southern Italy)
- Catalan (in Alghero, Sardinia)
- Corsican (in Northern Sardinia)
- Croatian (in Montemitro & Aquaviva Collercroce & San Felice, Molise)
- Emiliano-Romagnolo (in Emilia-Romagna)
- Franco-Provençal (in Aosta Valley)
- French (in Aosta Valley)
- Friulian (in Friuli)
- German (in Südtirol)
- Greek (in some parts of Apulia and Calabria)
- Insubric Lombard (in Western Lombardy)
- Ladin (in some parts of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol)
- Ligurian (in Liguria)
- Neapolitan (in Campania, Abruzzo, Molise, Basilicata, Apulia, Northern Calabria)
- Occitan (in Occitan Valleys, Piedmont)
- Orobic Lombard (in Eastern Lombardy)
- Piedmontese (in Piedmont)
- Romani (Rom and Sinti communities)
- Sicilian (in Sicily, Southern Apulia, Southern Calabria)
- Slovenian (in some parts of Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
- Venetian (in Veneto)
[edit] J
- Jamaica
- English
- Japan
- Japanese
- Jordan
- Arabic
[edit] K
- Kazakhstan
- Kazakh (national)
- Russian
- Kenya
- English
- Swahili (national)
- Kiribati
- English
- Kiribati (national)
- Korea, North
- Korean
- Korea, South
- Korean
- Kuwait
- Arabic
- Kyrgyzstan
- Kirghiz (national)
- Russian
[edit] L
- Laos
- Lao
- Latvia
- Latvian
- Lebanon
- Arabic
- Lesotho
- English
- Sotho (national)
- Liberia
- English
- Libya
- Arabic
- Liechtenstein
- German
- Lithuania
- Lithuanian
- Luxembourg
- French
- German
- Luxembourgish (national)
[edit] M
- Macedonia, Republic of
- Albanian (in 29 municipalities)
- Macedonian (statewide)
- Romani (in Suto Orizari)
- Serbian (in Cucer-Sandevo)
- Turkish (in four municipalities)
- Madagascar
- English
- French
- Malagasy (national)
- Malawi
- Chichewa (national)
- English
- Malaysia
- Malay (national)
- Maldives
- Dhivehi
- Mali
- French
- Malta
- English
- Italian
- Maltese (national)
- Marshall Islands
- English
- Marshallese (national)
- Mauritania
- Arabic (national)
- French
- Fula (national)
- Soninke (national)
- Wolof (national)
- Mauritius
- English
- French
- Mexico
- No official language statewide, Spanish is the de facto official language
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Chuukese (in Chuuk)
- English (statewide except in Kosrae, where it has a constitutionally protected associate status)
- Kosraean (in Kosrae)
- Pohnpeian (in Pohnpei)
- Ulithian (in Yap)
- Yapese (in Yap)
- Moldova
- Gagauz (in Gagauzia)
- Moldovan (or Romanian - statewide)
- Russian (in Gagauzia and Transnistria)
- Ukrainian (in Transnistria)
- Monaco
- French
- English (local language)
- Italian (local language)
- Monégasque (widely spoken)
- Occitan (widely spoken)
- Mongolia
- Mongolian
- Montenegro
- Serbian (Shtokavian dialect)
- Italian (in Kotor)
- Morocco
- Arabic
- French
- Mozambique
- Portuguese
- Myanmar
- Burmese
[edit] N
- Namibia
- English
- Nauru
- English
- Nauruan
- Nepal
- Nepali
- Netherlands
- Dutch (statewide)
- Frisian (in Friesland)
- Limburgish (regional language)
- Low Saxon (regional language)
- New Zealand
- English is a de facto official language (statewide)
- Maori (statewide)
- New Zealand Sign Language (statewide)
- Cook Islands Maori (in the Cook Islands)
- Niuean (in Niue)
- Tokelauan (in Tokelau)
- Nicaragua
- Spanish
- English(on the Carribean coast)
- Indigenous languages (on the Carribean coast)
- Niger
- French
- Nigeria
- English
- Hausa (national)
- Yoruba (national)
- Igbo (national)
- Norway
- Norwegian (statewide)
- Sami (in Kautokeino, Karasjok, Kåfjord, Nesseby, Sør-Varanger, and Tana)
[edit] O
- Oman
- Arabic
[edit] P
- Pakistan
- English
- Urdu
- Sindhi language
- Pashto language
- Palau
- English (statewide)
- Palauan (statewide)
- Japanese (in Angaur)
- Palestine
- Arabic
- Panama
- Spanish
- Papua New Guinea
- English
- Hiri Motu
- Tok Pisin
- Paraguay
- Guaraní
- Spanish
- Peru
- Aymara
- Quechua
- Spanish
- Puerto Rico
- English
- Spanish
- Philippines
- Arabic (recognized in the Constitution)
- Bikol (in Luzon)
- Cebuano (in Mindanao and the Visayas)
- English (statewide)
- Filipino (statewide) (national)
- Hiligaynon (in the Visayas)
- Ilokano (in Luzon)
- Kapampangan (in Luzon)
- Kinaray-a (in the Visayas)
- Maranao (in Mindanao)
- Maguindanao (in Mindanao)
- Pangasinan (in Luzon)
- Spanish (recognized in Constitution)
- Tagalog (in Luzon)
- Tausug (in Mindanao)
- Waray-Waray (in the Visayas)
- Poland
- Polish
- Kashubian
- Silesian (dialect of Polish, defined as language by its users)
- Portugal
- Portuguese
- Mirandese (regional, in Miranda do Douro)
[edit] Q
- Qatar
- Arabic
[edit] R
- Romania
- Romanian
- Russia
- Abaza (in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic)
- Adyghe (in the Republic of Adygea)
- Agul (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Altay (in the Altai Republic)
- Avar (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Bashkir (in the Republic of Bashkortostan)
- Buryat (in Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug, Buryat Republic, and Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug)
- Chechen (in the Chechen Republic)
- Chukchi (in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug)
- Chuvash (in the Chuvash Republic)
- Dargin (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Dolgan (in Taymyr Autonomous Okrug)
- Erzya (in the Republic of Mordovia)
- Evenk (in Evenk Autonomous Okrug)
- Ingush (in the Republic of Ingushetia)
- Kabardian (in the Kabardino-Balkar and Karachay-Cherkess Republics)
- Kalmyk (in the Republic of Kalmykia)
- Karachay-Balkar (in the Kabardino-Balkar and Karachay-Cherkess Republics)
- Khakas (in the Republic of Khakassia)
- Khanty (in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug)
- Komi-Permyak (in Komi-Permyak Okrug)
- Komi-Zyrian (in the Komi Republic)
- Koryak (in Koryak Autonomous Okrug)
- Kumyk (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Lak (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Lezgi (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Mansi (in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug)
- Mari (in the Mari El Republic)
- Moksha (in the Republic of Mordovia)
- Nogai (in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Nenets (in Nenets Autonomous Okrug)
- Ossetic (in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania)
- Russian (federal)
- Tabasaran (in the Republic of Dagestan)
- Tatar (in the Republic of Tatarstan)
- Tuvin (in the Tuva Republic)
- Udmurt (in the Republic of Udmurtia)
- Yakut (in the Sakha Republic)
- Yiddish (in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast)
- Rwanda
- English
- French
- Kinyarwanda
[edit] S
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- English
- Saint Lucia
- English
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- English
- Samoa
- English
- Samoan (national)
- San Marino
- Italian
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Portuguese
- Saudi Arabia
- Arabic
- Senegal
- French
- Jola-Fogny (national)
- Malinke (national)
- Mandinka (national)
- Pulaar (national)
- Serer-Sine (national)
- Wolof (national)
- Serbia
- Albanian (in Kosovo)
- Bosniak (in Sandzak)
- Croatian (in Vojvodina)
- English (in Kosovo)
- Italian (in Kosovo)
- Hungarian (in Vojvodina)
- Romanian (in Vojvodina)
- Ruthenian (in Vojvodina)
- Serbian (statewide)
- Slovak (in Vojvodina)
- Turkish (in Kosovo)
- Ukrainian (in parts of Serbia)
- Seychelles
- English
- French
- Seychellois Creole
- Sierra Leone
- English
- Singapore
- English
- Malay (national)
- Mandarin
- Tamil
- Slovakia
- Slovak
- Slovenia
- Hungarian (minority language in Dobrovnik, Hodoš, and Lendava)
- Italian (minority language in Izola, Koper, and Piran)
- Slovenian (statewide)
- Solomon Islands
- English
- Somalia
- Somali
- Italian
- Arabic (in Puntland and Somaliland)
- English (in Somaliland)
- South Africa
- Afrikaans
- English
- Ndebele
- Northern Sotho
- Sotho
- Swazi
- Tsonga
- Tswana
- Venda
- Xhosa
- Zulu
- Spain
- Basque (in Basque Country and Navarre)
- Catalan (in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia)
- Galician (in Galicia)
- Occitan (in Val d'Aran)
- Spanish (statewide)
- Sri Lanka
- Sinhala
- Tamil
- Sudan
- Arabic
- English
- Suriname
- Dutch
- Swaziland
- English
- Swazi
- Sweden
- No official language statewide, Swedish is the de facto official language.
- Finnish (in Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala, Övertorneå, and the surrounding areas) (minority language)
- Meänkieli (in Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala, Övertorneå, and the surrounding areas) (minority language)
- Romani (historical minority language)
- Sami (in Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk, Kiruna, and the surrounding areas) (minority language)
- Yiddish (historical minority language)
- Switzerland
- French (in Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais, and Vaud)
- German (in 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, and Zürich)
- Italian (in Graubünden and Ticino)
- Romansh (in Graubünden)
- Syria
- Arabic
- French
[edit] T
- Taiwan (Republic of China)
- Mandarin (national)
- Tajikistan
- Tajik
- Tanzania
- English
- Swahili (national)
- Thailand
- Thai
- Togo
- French
- Tonga
- English
- Tongan (national)
- Trinidad and Tobago
- English
- Tunisia
- Arabic (national)
- French
- Turkmenistan
- Turkmen
- Tuvalu
- English
- Tuvaluan (national)
[edit] U
- Uganda
- English
- Swahili (national)
- Ukraine
- Ukrainian
- Russian(minority language)
- United Arab Emirates
- Arabic
- United Kingdom
- No official language statewide, English is the de facto official language.
- Cornish (in Cornwall) (minority language)
- Dgèrnésiais (in Guernsey)
- English (in Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Montserrat, Northern Ireland, the Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands)
- French (in Guernsey and Jersey)
- Irish (in Northern Ireland) (minority language)
- Jèrriais (in Jersey)
- Pitcairnese (in the Pitcairn Islands)
- Scots (in Northern Ireland and Scotland) (minority language)
- Scottish Gaelic (in Scotland)
- Welsh (in Wales)
- United States
- No official language nationwide, English is the de facto official language and the national language.
- Carolinian (in the Northern Mariana Islands)
- Chamorro (in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands)
- English (in Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming)
- Hawaiian (in Hawaii)
- Samoan (in American Samoa)
- Spanish (in Puerto Rico)
- Uruguay
- Spanish
- Uzbekistan
- Uzbek
[edit] V
- Vanuatu
- Bislama (national)
- English
- French
- Vatican City
- No official language; Latin is the de facto official language.
- Venezuela
- Spanish
- Vietnam
- Vietnamese
[edit] W
- Western Sahara
- Arabic
[edit] Y
- Yemen
- Arabic
[edit] Z
- Zambia
- English
- Zimbabwe
- English
- Shona
- Ndebele
[edit] See also
- List of official languages
- List of countries by native names
- List of countries and capitals in native languages