Languages In 36 editions of 36.

• Mandarin Chinese 13.69%,
• Spanish 5.05%,
• English 4.84%,
• Hindi 2.82%,
• Portuguese 2.77%,
• Bengali 2.68%,
• Russian 2.27%,
• Japanese 1.99%,
• Standard German 1.49%,
• Wu Chinese 1.21% (2004 est.)

note: percents are for "first language" speakers only

• Arabic (official),
• French,
• Berber dialects

Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages

• French (official),
• Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south),
• tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)

• Setswana 78.2%,
• Kalanga 7.9%,
• Sekgalagadi 2.8%,
• English 2.1% (official),
• other 8.6%,
• unspecified 0.4% (2001 census)

French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population

• Kirundi (official),
• French (official),
• Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)

Portuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)

24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)

• French (official),
• Sangho (lingua franca and national language),
• tribal languages

French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects

• Arabic (official),
• French (official),
• Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic)

• French (official),
• Lingala (a lingua franca trade language),
• Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili),
• Kikongo,
• Tshiluba

• French (official),
• Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages),
• many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)

French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken

• French (official),
• Arabic (official),
• Somali,
• Afar

Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

• Spanish (official),
• French (official),
• pidgin English,
• Fang,
• Bubi,
• Ibo

• Afar,
• Arabic,
• Tigre and Kunama,
• Tigrinya,
• other Cushitic languages

English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)

• Amharic,
• Tigrinya,
• Oromigna,
• Guaragigna,
• Somali,
• Arabic,
• other local languages,
• English (major foreign language taught in schools)

• French (official),
• Fang,
• Myene,
• Nzebi,
• Bapounou/Eschira,
• Bandjabi

• English (official),
• Mandinka,
• Wolof,
• Fula,
• other indigenous vernaculars

English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

French (official); note - each ethnic group has its own language

• Portuguese (official),
• Crioulo,
• African languages

• English (official),
• Kiswahili (official),
• numerous indigenous languages

• Sesotho (southern Sotho),
• English (official),
• Zulu,
• Xhosa

English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence

• Arabic,
• Italian,
• English,
• all are widely understood in the major cities

French (official), Malagasy (official)

• Chichewa 57.2% (official),
• Chinyanja 12.8%,
• Chiyao 10.1%,
• Chitumbuka 9.5%,
• Chisena 2.7%,
• Chilomwe 2.4%,
• Chitonga 1.7%,
• other 3.6% (1998 census)

• French (official),
• Bambara 80%,
• numerous African languages

• Arabic (official),
• Pulaar,
• Soninke,
• French,
• Hassaniya,
• Wolof

• Creole 80.5%,
• Bhojpuri 12.1%,
• French 3.4%,
• English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population),
• other 3.7%,
• unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)

Mahorian (a Swahili dialect), French (official language) spoken by 35% of the population

Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French often the language of business, government, and diplomacy

• Emakhuwa 26.1%,
• Xichangana 11.3%,
• Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language),
• Elomwe 7.6%,
• Cisena 6.8%,
• Echuwabo 5.8%,
• other Mozambican languages 32%,
• other foreign languages 0.3%,
• unspecified 1.3% (1997 census)

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)

• French (official),
• Hausa,
• Djerma

• English (official),
• Hausa,
• Yoruba,
• Igbo (Ibo),
• Fulani

French (official), Creole widely used

• Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular,
• French (official),
• English (official),
• Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers

English

Portuguese (official)

• French (official),
• Wolof,
• Pulaar,
• Jola,
• Mandinka

• Creole 91.8%,
• English 4.9% (official),
• other 3.1%,
• unspecified 0.2% (2002 census)

• 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%)

• Somali (official),
• Arabic,
• Italian,
• English

• IsiZulu 23.8%,
• IsiXhosa 17.6%,
• Afrikaans 13.3%,
• Sepedi 9.4%,
• English 8.2%,
• Setswana 8.2%,
• Sesotho 7.9%,
• Xitsonga 4.4%,
• other 7.2% (2001 census)

• Arabic (official),
• Nubian,
• Ta Bedawie,
• diverse dialects of Nilotic,
• Nilo-Hamitic,
• Sudanic languages,
• English

note: program of "Arabization" in process

• Kiswahili or Swahili (official),
• Kiunguja (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

• 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)

Arabic (official and one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce)

• 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

Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic

English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages

• English (official),
• Shona,
• Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele),
• numerous but minor tribal dialects

• Greenlandic (East Inuit),
• Danish,
• English

• Icelandic,
• English,
• Nordic languages,
• German widely spoken

Norwegian, Russian

• Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%,
• Pashtu (official) 35%,
• Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%,
• 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%,
• much bilingualism

• Armenian 97.7%,
• Yezidi 1%,
• Russian 0.9%,
• other 0.4% (2001 census)

• Azerbaijani (Azeri) 89%,
• Russian 3%,
• Armenian 2%,
• other 6% (1995 est.)

Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English

• Dzongkha (official),
• Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects,
• Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects

• 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)

• Georgian 71% (official),
• Russian 9%,
• Armenian 7%,
• Azeri 6%,
• other 7%

note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia

• 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

Japanese

Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.)

Korean

Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school

Kyrgyz (official), Russian (official)

Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials

• Khalkha Mongol 90%,
• Turkic,
• Russian (1999)

• Nepali 47.8%,
• Maithali 12.1%,
• Bhojpuri 7.4%,
• Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%,
• Tamang 5.1%,
• Newar 3.6%,
• Magar 3.3%,
• Awadhi 2.4%,
• other 10%,
• unspecified 2.5% (2001 census)

note: many in government and business also speak English

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%

Russian, many minority languages

• 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

Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business

• Turkmen 72%,
• Russian 12%,
• Uzbek 9%,
• other 7%

• Uzbek 74.3%,
• Russian 14.2%,
• Tajik 4.4%,
• other 7.1%

English (official)

English (official), local dialects

• Dutch (official),
• Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English dialect),
• English (widely spoken),
• Spanish

English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

English

• English (official),
• Spanish,
• Mayan,
• Garifuna (Carib),
• Creole

English (official)

English

Spanish (official), English

Spanish

English (official), French patois

Spanish

Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

English (official), French patois

French (official) 99%, Creole patois

Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)

French (official), Creole (official)

Spanish, Amerindian dialects

English, patois English

French, Creole patois

English

• Papiamento 65.4% (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect),
• English 15.9% (widely spoken),
• Dutch 7.3% (official),
• Spanish 6.1%,
• Creole 1.6%,
• other 1.9%,
• unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

• Spanish 97.5% (official),
• Miskito 1.7%,
• other 0.8% (1995 census)

note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast

Spanish (official), English 14%; note - many Panamanians bilingual

Spanish, English

English

English (official), French patois

English, French patois

• English (official),
• Hindi,
• French,
• Spanish,
• Chinese

English (official)

• English 74.7%,
• Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%,
• French or French Creole 6.6%,
• other 1.9% (2000 census)

• Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect),
• Greek,
• Vlach,
• Romani,
• Slavic dialects

• Catalan (official),
• French,
• Castilian,
• Portuguese

• German (official nationwide),
• Slovene (official in Carinthia),
• Croatian (official in Burgenland),
• Hungarian (official in Burgenland)

• Belarusian,
• Russian,
• other

• Dutch (official) 60%,
• French (official) 40%,
• German (official) less than 1%,
• legally bilingual (Dutch and French)

• Bosnian,
• Croatian,
• Serbian

• Bulgarian 84.5%,
• Turkish 9.6%,
• Roma 4.1%,
• other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)

• Croatian 96.1%,
• Serbian 1%,
• other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census)

Czech

• Danish,
• Faroese,
• Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect),
• German (small minority)

note: English is the predominant second language

• Estonian (official) 67.3%,
• Russian 29.7%,
• other 2.3%,
• unknown 0.7% (2000 census)

• Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish;
• note - only official languages are listed;
• Irish (Gaelic) will become the 21st language on 1 January 2007

Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish

• Finnish 92% (official),
• Swedish 5.6% (official),
• other 2.4% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)

French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

German

• English (used in schools and for official purposes),
• Spanish,
• Italian,
• Portuguese

• Greek 99% (official),
• English,
• French

• English,
• French,
• Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts

• Italian,
• Latin,
• French,
• various other languages

• Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census)

English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (official) (Gaelic or Gaeilge) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard

English, Manx Gaelic

• 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)

• English 94.5% (official),
• Portuguese 4.6%,
• other 0.9% (2001 census)

• Latvian (official) 58.2%,
• Russian 37.5%,
• Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)

German (official), Alemannic dialect

• Lithuanian (official) 82%,
• Russian 8%,
• Polish 5.6%,
• other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)

• Luxembourgish (national language),
• German (administrative language),
• French (administrative language)

Maltese (official), English (official)

• Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language),
• Russian,
• Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)

• French (official),
• English,
• Italian,
• Monegasque