Languages In 36 editions of 36.

• Mandarin Chinese 12.44%,
• Spanish 4.85%,
• English 4.83%,
• Arabic 3.25%,
• Hindi 2.68%,
• Bengali 2.66%,
• Portuguese 2.62%,
• Russian 2.12%,
• Japanese 1.8%,
• Standard German 1.33%,
• Javanese 1.25% (2009 est.)

note 1: percents are for "first language" speakers only; the six UN languages - Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Russian, and Spanish (Castilian) - are the mother tongue or second language of about half of the world's population, and are the official languages in more than half the states in the world; some 150 to 200 languages have more than a million speakers

note 2: all told, there are an estimated 7,100 languages spoken in the world; aproximately 80% of these languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people; about 50 languages are spoken by only 1 person; communities that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 836 separate languages

note 3: approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,150, in Africa, 1,300 in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 280 in Europe

Arabic (official), French (lingua franca), Berber dialects: Kabylie Berber (Tamazight), Chaouia Berber (Tachawit), Mzab Berber, Tuareg Berber (Tamahaq)

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 (official) 2.1%,
• other 8.6%,
• unspecified 0.4% (2001 census)

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

• Kirundi 29.7% (official),
• Kirundi and other language 9.1%,
• French (official) and French and other language 0.3%,
• Swahili and Swahili and other language 0.2% (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area),
• English and English and other language 0.06%,
• more than 2 languages 3.7%,
• unspecified 56.9% (2008 est.)

Portuguese (official), 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 of which Dioula is the most widely spoken

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

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

Spanish (official) 67.6%, other (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) 32.4% (1994 census)

• Tigrinya (official),
• Arabic (official),
• English (official),
• Tigre,
• Kunama,
• Afar,
• other Cushitic languages

English (official, used for government business), siSwati (official)

• Oromo (official working language in the State of Oromiya) 33.8%,
• Amharic (official national language) 29.3%,
• Somali (official working language of the State of Sumale) 6.2%,
• Tigrigna (Tigrinya) (official working language of the State of Tigray) 5.9%,
• Sidamo 4%,
• Wolaytta 2.2%,
• Gurage 2%,
• Afar (official working language of the State of Afar) 1.7%,
• Hadiyya 1.7%,
• Gamo 1.5%,
• Gedeo 1.3%,
• Opuuo 1.2%,
• Kafa 1.1%,
• other 8.1%,
• English (major foreign language taught in schools),
• Arabic (2007 est.)

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

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

• Asante 14.8%,
• Ewe 12.7%,
• Fante 9.9%,
• Boron (Brong) 4.6%,
• Dagomba 4.3%,
• Dangme 4.3%,
• Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%,
• Akyem 3.4%,
• Ga 3.4%,
• Akuapem 2.9%,
• other (includes English (official)) 36.1% (2000 census)

French (official)

note: each ethnic group has its own language

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

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

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

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

• Arabic (official),
• Italian,
• English (all widely understood in the major cities);
• Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)

• French (official),
• Malagasy (official),
• English

• English (official),
• Chichewa (common),
• Chinyanja,
• Chiyao,
• Chitumbuka,
• Chilomwe,
• Chinkhonde,
• Chingoni,
• Chisena,
• Chitonga,
• Chinyakyusa,
• Chilambya

• French (official),
• Bambara 46.3%,
• Peul/foulfoulbe 9.4%,
• Dogon 7.2%,
• Maraka/soninke 6.4%,
• Malinke 5.6%,
• Sonrhai/djerma 5.6%,
• Minianka 4.3%,
• Tamacheq 3.5%,
• Senoufo 2.6%,
• unspecified 0.6%,
• other 8.5%

note: Mali has 13 national languages in addition to its official language

• Arabic (official and national),
• Pulaar,
• Soninke,
• Wolof (all national languages),
• French,
• Hassaniya (a variety of Arabic)

• Creole 86.5%,
• Bhojpuri 5.3%,
• French 4.1%,
• two languages 1.4%,
• other 2.6% (includes English, the official language, which is spoken by less than 1% of the population),
• unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

• Arabic (official),
• Berber languages (Tamazight (official), Tachelhit, Tarifit),
• French (often the language of business, government, and diplomacy)

• Emakhuwa 25.3%,
• Portuguese (official) 10.7%,
• Xichangana 10.3%,
• Cisena 7.5%,
• Elomwe 7%,
• Echuwabo 5.1%,
• other Mozambican languages 30.1%,
• other 4% (1997 census)

• Oshiwambo languages 48.9%,
• Nama/Damara 11.3%,
• Afrikaans 10.4% (common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population),
• Otjiherero languages 8.6%,
• Kavango languages 8.5%,
• Caprivi languages 4.8%,
• English (official) 3.4%,
• other African languages 2.3%,
• other 1.7%

note: Namibia has 13 recognized national languages, including 10 indigenous African languages and 3 Indo-European languages (2011 est.)

• French (official),
• Hausa,
• Djerma

English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages

• Kinyarwanda only (official, universal Bantu vernacular) 93.2%,
• Kinyarwanda and other language(s) 6.2%,
• French (official) and other language(s) 0.1%,
• English (official) and other language(s) 0.1%,
• Swahili (or Kiswahili, used in commercial centers) 0.02%,
• other 0.03%,
• unspecified 0.3% (2002 est.)

English

• Portuguese 98.4% (official),
• Forro 36.2%,
• Cabo Verdian 8.5%,
• French 6.8%,
• Angolar 6.6%,
• English 4.9%,
• Lunguie 1%,
• other (including sign language) 2.4%

note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2012 est.)

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

• Seychellois Creole (official) 89.1%,
• English (official) 5.1%,
• French (official) 0.7%,
• other 3.8%,
• unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.)

• 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 (official, according to the Transitional Federal Charter),
• Italian,
• English

• IsiZulu (official) 22.7%,
• IsiXhosa (official) 16%,
• Afrikaans (official) 13.5%,
• English (official) 9.6%,
• Sepedi (official) 9.1%,
• Setswana (official) 8%,
• Sesotho (official) 7.6%,
• Xitsonga (official) 4.5%,
• siSwati (official) 2.5%,
• Tshivenda (official) 2.4%,
• isiNdebele (official) 2.1%,
• sign language 0.5%,
• other 1.6% (2011 est.)

• English (official),
• Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants),
• regional languages include Dinka,
• Nuer,
• Bari,
• Zande,
• Shilluk

• Arabic (official),
• English (official),
• Nubian,
• Ta Bedawie,
• Fur

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; 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, 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, one of the languages of commerce),
• French (commerce),
• Berber (Tamazight)

• 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

• Standard Arabic (national),
• Hassaniya Arabic,
• Moroccan Arabic

• Bembe 33.4%,
• Nyanja 14.7%,
• Tonga 11.4%,
• Chewa 4.5%,
• Lozi 5.5%,
• Nsenga 2.9%,
• Tumbuka 2.5%,
• Lunda (North Western) 1.9%,
• Kaonde 1.8%,
• Lala 1.8%,
• Lamba 1.8%,
• English (official) 1.7%,
• Luvale 1.5%,
• Mambwe 1.3%,
• Namwanga 1.2%,
• Lenje 1.1%,
• Bisa 1%,
• other 9.4%,
• unspecified 0.4%

note: Zambia is said to have over 70 languages, although man of these may be considered dialects; all of Zambia's major languages are members of the Bantu family (2010 est.)

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

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

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

Norwegian, Russian

• Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%,
• Pashto (official) 35%,
• Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%,
• 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%,
• much bilingualism,
• but Dari functions as the lingua franca

note: the Turkic languages Uzbek and Turkmen, as well as Balochi, Pashai, Nuristani, and Pamiri are the third official languages in areas where the majority speaks them

• Armenian (official) 97.9%,
• Kurdish (spoken by Yezidi minority) 1%,
• other 1% (2011 est.)

• Azerbaijani (Azeri) (official) 92.5%,
• Russian 1.4%,
• Armenian 1.4%,
• other 4.7% (2009 est.)

Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English

• Sharchhopka 28%,
• Dzongkha (official) 24%,
• Lhotshamkha 22%,
• other 26% (includes foreign languages) (2005 est.)

• Standard Chinese or Mandarin (official; Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect),
• Yue (Cantonese),
• Wu (Shanghainese),
• Minbei (Fuzhou),
• Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese),
• Xiang,
• Gan,
• Hakka dialects,
• minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)

note: Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uyghur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet)

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

note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia

• Hindi 41%,
• Bengali 8.1%,
• Telugu 7.2%,
• Marathi 7%,
• Tamil 5.9%,
• Urdu 5%,
• Gujarati 4.5%,
• Kannada 3.7%,
• Malayalam 3.2%,
• Oriya 3.2%,
• Punjabi 2.8%,
• Assamese 1.3%,
• Maithili 1.2%,
• other 5.9%

note: English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% 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 (2001 census)

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) 64.7%,
• Uzbek 13.6%,
• Russian (official) 12.5%,
• Dungun 1%,
• other 8.2% (1999 census)

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

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

• Nepali (official) 44.6%,
• Maithali 11.7%,
• Bhojpuri 6%,
• Tharu 5.8%,
• Tamang 5.1%,
• Newar 3.2%,
• Magar 3%,
• Bajjika 3%,
• Urdu 2.6%,
• Avadhi 1.9%,
• Limbu 1.3%,
• Gurung 1.2%,
• other 10.4%,
• unspecified 0.2%

note: 123 languages reported as mother tongue in 2011 national census; many in government and business also speak English (2011 est.)

Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Saraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashto (alternate name, Pashtu) 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and other 8%

• Russian (official) 96.3%,
• Dolgang 5.3%,
• German 1.5%,
• Chechen 1%,
• Tatar 3%,
• other 10.3%

note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2010 est.)

• Sinhala (official and national language) 74%,
• Tamil (national language) 18%,
• other 8%

note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution

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

• Turkmen (official) 72%,
• Russian 12%,
• Uzbek 9%,
• other 7%

• Uzbek (official) 74.3%,
• Russian 14.2%,
• Tajik 4.4%,
• other 7.1%

English (official)

English (official), local dialects

• Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 69.4%,
• Spanish 13.7%,
• English (widely spoken) 7.1%,
• Dutch (official) 6.1%,
• Chinese 1.5%,
• other 1.7%,
• unspecified 0.4% (2010 est.)

English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

English (official), Bajan (English-based creole language, widely spoken in informal settings)

• Spanish 46%,
• Creole 32.9%,
• Mayan dialects 8.9%,
• English 3.9% (official),
• Garifuna 3.4% (Carib),
• German 3.3%,
• other 1.4%,
• unknown 0.2% (2000 census)

English (official)

• English (official) 90.9%,
• Spanish 4%,
• Filipino 3.3%,
• other 1.7%,
• unspecified 0.1% (2010 est.)

Spanish (official), English

Spanish (official)

• Papiamentu (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 81.2%,
• Dutch (official) 8%,
• Spanish 4%,
• English 2.9%,
• other 3.9% (2001 census)

English (official), French patois

Spanish (official)

Spanish (official), Nahua (among some Amerindians)

English (official), French patois

Spanish (official) 60%, Amerindian languages 40%

note: there are 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca

French (official), Creole (official)

Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects

English, English patois

English

• Spanish (official) 95.3%,
• Miskito 2.2%,
• Mestizo of the Caribbean coast 2%,
• other 0.5%

note: English and indigenous languages found on the Caribbean coast (2005 est.)

Spanish (official), English 14%

note: many Panamanians are bilingual

Spanish, English

French (primary), English

English (official)

English (official), French patois

• French (official),
• English,
• Dutch,
• French Patois,
• Spanish,
• Papiamento (dialect of Netherlands Antilles)

English, French patois

• English (official) 67.5%,
• Spanish 12.9%,
• Creole 8.2%,
• Dutch (official) 4.2%,
• Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 2.2%,
• French 1.5%,
• other 3.5% (2001 census)

• English (official),
• Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of 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 98.8% (official - derived from Tosk dialect),
• Greek 0.5%,
• other 0.6% (including Macedonian, Roma, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian),
• unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

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

• German (official nationwide) 88.6%,
• Turkish 2.3%,
• Serbian 2.2%,
• Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%,
• other (includes Slovene, official in Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 census)

• Belarusian (official) 23.4%,
• Russian (official) 70.2%,
• other 3.1% (includes small Polish- and Ukrainian-speaking minorities),
• unspecified 3.3% (2009 est.)

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

• Bosnian (official),
• Croatian (official),
• Serbian (official)

• Bulgarian (official) 76.8%,
• Turkish 8.2%,
• Roma 3.8%,
• other 0.7%,
• unspecified 10.5% (2011 est.)

• Croatian (official) 95.6%,
• Serbian 1.2%,
• other 3% (including Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Albanian),
• unspecified 0.2% (2011 est.)