======================================================================
@2098 Languages (%)
Afghanistan
Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages
(primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily
Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
Albania
Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek
Algeria
Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
American Samoa
Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other
Polynesian languages), English
note: most people are bilingual
Andorra
Catalan (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese
Angola
Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages
Anguilla
English (official)
Antigua and Barbuda
English (official), local dialects
Argentina
Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Armenia
Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2%
Aruba
Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch,
English dialect), English (widely spoken), Spanish
Australia
English, native languages
Austria
German
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani (Azeri) 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other
6% (1995 est.)
Bahamas, The
English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Bahrain
Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu
Bangladesh
Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
Barbados
English
Belarus
Belarusian, Russian, other
Belgium
Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German
(official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)
Belize
English (official), Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), Creole
Benin
French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in
south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Bermuda
English (official), Portuguese
Bhutan
Dzongkha (official), Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects,
Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects
Bolivia
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian
Botswana
English (official), Setswana
Brazil
Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
British Virgin Islands
English (official)
Brunei
Malay (official), English, Chinese
Bulgaria
Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic
breakdown
Burkina Faso
French (official), native African languages belonging
to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population
Burma
Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Burundi
Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake
Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)
Cambodia
Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
Cameroon
24 major African language groups, English (official),
French (official)
Canada
English 59.3% (official), French 23.2% (official), other 17.5%
Cape Verde
Portuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West
African words)
Cayman Islands
English
Central African Republic
French (official), Sangho (lingua franca
and national language), tribal languages
Chad
French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more
than 120 different languages and dialects
Chile
Spanish
China
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing
dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan
(Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages
(see Ethnic groups entry)
Christmas Island
English (official), Chinese, Malay
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Malay (Cocos dialect), English
Colombia
Spanish
Comoros
Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (a blend of
Swahili and Arabic)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
French (official), Lingala (a
lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or
Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
Congo, Republic of the
French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba
(lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects
(of which Kikongo has the most users)
Cook Islands
English (official), Maori
Costa Rica
Spanish (official), English
Cote d'Ivoire
French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the
most widely spoken
Croatia
Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech,
Slovak, and German)
Cuba
Spanish
Cyprus
Greek, Turkish, English
Czech Republic
Czech
Denmark
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German
(small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language
Djibouti
French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
Dominica
English (official), French patois
Dominican Republic
Spanish
East Timor
Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian,
English
note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole,
Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people
Ecuador
Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
Egypt
Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by
educated classes
El Salvador
Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Equatorial Guinea
Spanish (official), French (official), pidgin
English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo
Eritrea
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic
languages
Estonia
Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other
Ethiopia
Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic,
other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in
schools)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
English
Faroe Islands
Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish
Fiji
English (official), Fijian, Hindustani
Finland
Finnish 93.4% (official), Swedish 5.9% (official), small
Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities
France
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and
languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque,
Flemish)
French Guiana
French
French Polynesia
French (official), Tahitian (official)
Gabon
French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira,
Bandjabi
Gambia, The
English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other
indigenous vernaculars
Gaza Strip
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many
Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Georgia
Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%,
other 7%
note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia
Germany
German
Ghana
English (official), African languages (including Akan,
Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)
Gibraltar
English (used in schools and for official purposes),
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Greece
Greek 99% (official), English, French
Greenland
Greenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English
Grenada
English (official), French patois
Guadeloupe
French (official) 99%, Creole patois
Guam
English, Chamorro, Japanese
Guatemala
Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially
recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel,
Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)
Guernsey
English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country
districts
Guinea
French (official), each ethnic group has its own language
Guinea-Bissau
Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
Guyana
English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu
Haiti
French (official), Creole (official)
Holy See (Vatican City)
Italian, Latin, French, various other
languages
Honduras
Spanish, Amerindian dialects
Hong Kong
Chinese (Cantonese), English; both are official
Hungary
Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%
Iceland
Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken
India
English enjoys associate status but is the most important
language for national, political, and commercial communication;
Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the
people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu,
Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi,
Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular
variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is
not an official language
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%, Turkic and Turkic dialects
26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
Iraq
Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian,
Armenian
Ireland
English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic)
spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Israel
Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority,
English most commonly used foreign language
Italy
Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige
region are predominantly German speaking), French (small
French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene
(Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Jamaica
English, patois English
Japan
Japanese
Jersey
English (official), French (official), Norman-French dialect
spoken in country districts
Jordan
Arabic (official), 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% (2001 est.)
Kenya
English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous
languages
Kiribati
I-Kiribati, English (official)
Korea, North
Korean
Korea, South
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high
school
Kuwait
Arabic (official), English widely spoken
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz - official language, Russian - official language
note: in December 2001, the Kyrgyzstani legislature made Russian an
official language, equal in status to Kyrgyz
Laos
Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
Latvia
Latvian (official), Lithuanian, Russian, other
Lebanon
Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
Lesotho
Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Liberia
English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of
which a few can be written and are used in correspondence
Libya
Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the
major cities
Liechtenstein
German (official), Alemannic dialect
Lithuania
Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian
Luxembourg
Luxembourgish (national language), German (administrative
language), French (administrative language)
Macau
Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese)
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonian 70%, Albanian
21%, Turkish 3%, Serbo-Croatian 3%, other 3%
Madagascar
French (official), Malagasy (official)
Malawi
English (official), Chichewa (official), other languages
important regionally
Malaysia
Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects
(Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), 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
Mali
French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages
Malta
Maltese (official), English (official)
Man, Isle of
English, Manx Gaelic
Marshall Islands
English (widely spoken as a second language, both
English and Marshallese are official languages), two major
Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family, Japanese
Martinique
French, Creole patois
Mauritania
Hassaniya Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof
(official), French
Mauritius
English (official), Creole, French (official), Hindi,
Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri
Mayotte
Mahorian (a Swahili dialect), French (official language)
spoken by 35% of the population
Mexico
Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional
indigenous languages
Micronesia, Federated States of
English (official and common
language), Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian,
Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi
Moldova
Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian
language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Monaco
French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque
Mongolia
Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999)
Montserrat
English
Morocco
Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French often the
language of business, government, and diplomacy
Mozambique
Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects
Namibia
English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of
the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%,
indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama
Nauru
Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language),
English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and
commercial purposes
Nepal
Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a
dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in
government and business also speak English (1995)
Netherlands
Dutch (official language), Frisian (official language)
Netherlands Antilles
Dutch (official), Papiamento (a
Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English
widely spoken, Spanish
New Caledonia
French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
New Zealand
English (official), Maori (official)
Nicaragua
Spanish (official)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
Niger
French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Nigeria
English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani
Niue
Niuean, a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and
Samoan; English
Norfolk Island
English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century
English and ancient Tahitian
Northern Mariana Islands
English, Chamorro, Carolinian
note: 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home
Norway
Norwegian (official)
note: small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Oman
Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects
Pakistan
Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%,
Pashtu 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%,
English (official and lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most
government ministries), Burushaski, and other 8%
Palau
English and Palauan official in all states except Sonsoral
(Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are
official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official)
Panama
Spanish (official), English 14%
note: many Panamanians bilingual
Papua New Guinea
English spoken by 1%-2%, pidgin English widespread,
Motu spoken in Papua region
note: 715 indigenous languages
Paraguay
Spanish (official), Guarani (official)
Peru
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara
Philippines
two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and
English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon
or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense
Pitcairn Islands
English (official), Pitcairnese (mixture of an 18th
century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect)
Poland
Polish
Portugal
Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally
used)
Puerto Rico
Spanish, English
Qatar
Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language
Reunion
French (official), Creole widely used
Romania
Romanian (official), Hungarian, German
Russia
Russian, other
Rwanda
Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French
(official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in
commercial centers
Saint Helena
English
Saint Kitts and Nevis
English
Saint Lucia
English (official), French patois
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
French (official)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
English, French patois
Samoa
Samoan (Polynesian), English
San Marino
Italian
Sao Tome and Principe
Portuguese (official)
Saudi Arabia
Arabic
Senegal
French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%
Seychelles
English (official), French (official), Creole
Sierra Leone
English (official, regular use limited to literate
minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne
(principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole,
spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled
in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10%
of the population but understood by 95%)
Singapore
Chinese (official), Malay (official and national), Tamil
(official), English (official)
Slovakia
Slovak (official), Hungarian
Slovenia
Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 6%, other 3%
Solomon Islands
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua
franca; English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the
population
note: 120 indigenous languages
Somalia
Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English
South Africa
11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English,
Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Spain
Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%
note: Castilian is the official language nationwide; the other
languages are official regionally
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
Sudan
Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of
Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
note: program of "Arabization" in process
Suriname
Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo
(Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of
Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca
among others), Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese
Svalbard
Russian, Norwegian
Swaziland
English (official, government business conducted in
English), siSwati (official)
Sweden
Swedish
note: small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Switzerland
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 19.2%,
Italian (official) 7.6%, Romansch (official) 0.6%, other 8.9%
Syria
Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian
widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
Taiwan
Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
Tajikistan
Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and
business
Tanzania
Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju (name for Swahili
in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce,
administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in
Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people
living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili
is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety
of sources, including Arabic and English, and it has become the
lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of
most people is one of the local languages
Thailand
Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and
regional dialects
Togo
French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina
(the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes
spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the
north)
Tokelau
Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English
Tonga
Tongan, English
Trinidad and Tobago
English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish,
Chinese
Tunisia
Arabic (official and one of the languages of commerce),
French (commerce)
Turkey
Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek
Turkmenistan
Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Turks and Caicos Islands
English (official)
Tuvalu
Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Uganda
English (official national language, taught in grade schools,
used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio
broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo
languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital
and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages,
Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic
Ukraine
Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
United Arab Emirates
Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu
United Kingdom
English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of
Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
United States
English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)
Uruguay
Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on
the Brazilian frontier)
Uzbekistan
Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%
Vanuatu
three official languages: English, French, pidgin (known as
Bislama or Bichelama), plus more than 100 local languages
Venezuela
Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects
Vietnam
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a
second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area
languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
Virgin Islands
English (official), Spanish, Creole
Wallis and Futuna
French, Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language)
West Bank
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many
Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Western Sahara
Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
World
Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish
5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese
2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Yemen
Arabic
Zambia
English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi,
Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
Zimbabwe
English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the
Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal
dialects