Online Encyclopedia
List of official languages
Official languages of sovereign countries
- South Africa (with English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Albania
- Macedonia
- Part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Algeria
- Bahrain
- Chad (with French)
- Comoros (with French and Shikomor)
- Djibouti (with French)
- Egypt
- Eritrea (with Tigrignan)
- Iraq (with Kurdish)
- Israel (with Hebrew)
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Sudan
- Syria
- The United Arab Emirates
- Tunisia
- Yemen
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Bangladesh
- India (with English, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Assamese, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sanskrit, Sindhi)
- Andorra
- parts of Spain
- Balearic Islands (with Spanish)
- Catalonia (with Spanish)
- Valencia (named as Valencian, with Spanish)
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (with Bosnian, Serbian)
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
-
Denmark
- Faroe Islands (with Faroese)
- Greenland (with Inuktitut)
Dari:
- Afghanistan (with Pashtu)
- Belgium (with French and German)
- The Netherlands
- Suriname
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Botswana (but the national language is Setswana)
- Canada (federally, with French)
- Éire (with Irish)
- Fiji (with Bau Fijian and Hindustani)
- part of the People's Republic of China
- India (with Hindi and 14 other languages)
- Kenya (with Kiswahili)
- Kiribati
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea (with Tok Pisin and Motu)
- Republic of Ireland (with Irish)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- New Zealand (an official language by custom; the other by law is Māori)
- Singapore (with Malay, Tamil and Mandarin)
- Philippines (but the national language is Filipino)
- The Gambia
- parts of the United States. The USA Federal Government does not have an official language; English is the first language by custom, not law. See English-only movement. English is official language in the following states and territories:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii (with Hawaiian language)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (with French)
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico (with Spanish)
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Puerto Rico (with Spanish)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Virginia
- Wyoming
- Zambia
- Fiji (with English and Hindustani)
- Philippines (with English)
- Belgium (with Dutch and German)
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi (with Kirundi and Swahili)
- Cameroon (with English)
-
Canada (federally, with English)
- New Brunswick (with English)
- Quebec
- Nunavut (with English, Inuktitut, and Inuvialuktun)
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- Yukon (with English)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros (with Arabic and Comorian)
- Congo-Brazzaville
- Congo-Kinshasa
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea (with Spanish
- France
- Gabon
- Haiti (with Haitian Creole)
- part of Italy
- the Aosta Valley (with Italian)
- Madagascar (with Malagasy)
- Mali
- Mauritius (with English)
- Monaco
- Rwanda (with English and Kinyarwanda)
- Senegal
- Seychelles (with English)
- Switzerland (with German, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch)
- Togo
- Vanuatu (with Bislama and English)
- Austria
- Belgium (with Dutch and French)
- Germany
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg (with French and Letzeburgish)
- part of Italy
- South Tyrol (with Italian)
-
Switzerland (with French, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch)
- 17 of the 26 cantons (unilingually German)
- Graubünden (with Italian and Romansh)
- Bern, Fribourg (with French)
- Paraguay (with Spanish)
Haitian Creole is an official language of:
- Haiti (with French)
- Israel (with Arabic)
- India (with English and 14 other languages)
- Fiji (with English and Bau Fijian; known constitutionally as Hindustani as an umbrella term to cover Urdu, as well as Hindi.)
- Hungary
- part of Slovenia
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
Irish is the first official language of:
- Éire "Republic of Ireland" (with English)
- Italy (with German, French, Ladin and Sardinian in some provinces)
-
Switzerland (with German, French, and Rhaeto-Romansh)
- Ticino
- Graubünden (with German and Rhaeto-Romansh)
- San Marino
- part of Croatia
- Istria county (with Croatian)
- part of Slovenia
Lao:
- New Zealand (with English)
- the People's Republic of China
- the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Singapore (with Malay, English and Tamil)
Moldovan (asserted by nationalists to be distinct from Romanian; most linguists remain skeptical):
Motu :
- Papua New Guinea (with English and Tok Pisin)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Norway (two official written forms - Bokmål and Nynorsk)
- Afghanistan (with Dari)
- Angola
- Brazil
- Cape Verde
- East Timor
- Guinea-Bissau
- part of the People's Republic of China
- Mozambique
- Portugal
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- part of Spain
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Moldova (known locally as Moldovan, and asserted by nationalists to be a separate language, an assertion disputed by most professional linguists)
- Romania
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
-
Switzerland (with German, French, and Italian)
- Graubünden (with German and Italian)
- Belarus (with Belarusian)
- Kazakhstan (with Kazakh)
- Kyrgyzstan (with Kyrgyz)
- Russia
- Sri Lanka (with Tamil, and with English as a link language)
- Slovakia
- part of Serbia and Montenegro
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian and Ruthenian)
Sotho :
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Argentina
- Bolivia (with Aymara and Quecha)
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea(with French)
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Spain (Aranese, Basque, Catalan and Galician are co-official in some regions)
- Panama
- Paraguay(with Guarani)
- Peru (with Quechua)
- parts of the United States (co-official with English in New Mexico and Puerto Rico)
- Venezuela
- Uruguay
- Swaziland (with English)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
-
Finland (with Finnish)
- Åland (unilingually Swedish) (an autonomous province under Finnish sovereignty)
- Singapore (with Malay, English and Mandarin)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Sri Lanka (with Sinhala, and with English as a link language)
- Papua New Guinea (with English and Motu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
- Turkey
- Cyprus (with Greek (Hellenic))
Urdu:
- India (with Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Pakistan
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa, Zulu)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Zulu)
Zulu:
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa)
Official languages at the level of state or provincial unit only
Aranese see Occitan
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- part of Spain
- Basque Country (with Spanish)
- Navarre (with Spanish)
- Bangladesh
- India (with English, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
Cree:
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- part of the Netherlands
- Friesland (with Dutch)
NOTE: Whether Galician is in fact a language, or a dialect of Portuguese, is a matter of debate among linguists.
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
Hawaiian is an official language in:
- part of the United States:
- Hawaii (with English)
- parts of Canada
- Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuvialuktun)
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Slavey)
- part of Denmark
- Greenland (with Danish)
- parts of Canada
- Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuktitut)
- Northwest Territories (included in Inuktitut; with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Slavey)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- part of Iraq (only in Kurdish regions, elsewhere Arabic is official)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- part of Spain
- Val d'Aran (with Catalan and Spanish)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi)
- India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sanskrit)
- part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Inuktitut)
- India (with English, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
- Wales (with English)
- South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Zulu)
Zulu:
- South Africa (with Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda)
See also
Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45