List of official languages

Table of contents

1 Official languages by sovereign countries
2 Official languages at the level of state or provincial unit
3 Internal Link
4 External link

Official languages by sovereign countries

Afrikaans :

South Africa (with English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Albanian:

Albania

Arabic :

Armenian:

Armenia

Azeri:

Azerbaijan

Bahasa Indonesia:

Indonesia

Bulgarian:

Bulgaria

Catalan :

Andorra
parts of Spain
- Balearic Islands (with Spanish)
- Catalonia (with Spanish)
- Valencia (named as Valencian, with Spanish)

Danish

Denmark
- Greenland (with Inuktitut)

Dari :

Afghanistan (with Pashtu)

Dutch :

Belgium (with French and German)
The Netherlands
Suriname

Dzongkha:

Bhutan

English :

Australia
Bahamas
Botswana (but the national language is Setswana)
Canada (federally, with French)
- New Brunswick (with French)
- Nunavut (with French, Inuktitut, and Inuvialuktun)
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)
- Yukon (with French)
Fiji (but the national language is Fijian)
part of the People's Republic of China
- Hong Kong (with Chinese)
India (Hindi)
Kenya (with Kiswahili)
Kiribati
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea (with Tok Pisin and Motu)
Republic of Ireland (but secondary to 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
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii (with Hawaiian language)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico (with Spanish)
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Puerto Rico (with Spanish)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Wyoming

Filipino :

Philippines (with English)

Finnish :

Finland (with Swedish)

French :

Belgium (with Dutch and German)
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)
Chad
Congo-Brazzaville
Congo-Kinshasa
C�te d'Ivoire
Djibouti
France
Haiti (with Haitian Creole)
part of Italy
- the Aosta Valley (with Italian)
Monaco
Switzerland (with German, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch)
- Geneva
- Vaud
- Valais
- Jura
- Neuch�tel
- Fribourg, Berne (with German)

German :

Austria
Belgium (with Dutch and French)
Germany
part of Italy
- South Tyrol (with Italian)
Switzerland (with French, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch)
- 17 of the 26 cantons (unilingually German)
- Graub�nden (with Italian and Romansh)
- Berne, Fribourg (with French)

Greek (Hellenic):

Greece (Hellas)

Haitian Creole is an official language of:

Haiti (with French)

Hebrew :

Israel (with Arabic)

Inuktitut :

part 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)

Irish is the first official language of:

Republic of Ireland (with English as a secondary official language)

Italian :

Italy (with German, French, Ladin and Sardinian in some provinces)
Switzerland (with German, French, and Rhaeto-Romansh)
- Ticino
- Graub�nden (with German and Rhaeto-Romansh)
San Marino

Japanese :

Japan

Kazakh :

Kazakhstan

Khmer :

Cambodia

Korean :

Lao is an official language of:

Laos

Latin is an official language of:

Holy See (Vatican City)

Latvian :

Latvia

Malay :

Malaysia (as Bahasa Melayu)
Brunei
Singapore (with English, Tamil and Mandarin)

Māori :

New Zealand (with English)

Mandarin Chinese :

the People's Republic of China
the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Singapore (with Malay, English and Tamil)

Moldovan is an official language of:

Moldova

Motu :

Papua New Guinea (with English and Tok Pisin)

Ndebele :

South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Nepali :

Nepal

Northern Sotho :

South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Pashtu :

Afghanistan (with Dari)

Portuguese :

Angola
Brazil
Cape Verde
East Timor
Guinea-Bissau
part of the People's Republic of China
- Macau (with Chinese)
Mozambique
Portugal
Sao Tome and Principe
part of Spain
- Galicia, using the name Galician [See: Galician, above.] (with Spanish)

Punjabi :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Romanian :

Romania

Rhaeto-Romansh :

Switzerland (with German, French, and Italian)
- Graub�nden (with German and Italian)

Russian :

Kazakhstan (with Kazakh)
Russia

Sardinian is a partially official language of:

part of Italy
- Sardinia (with Italian)

Sinhala:

Sri Lanka (with Tamil, and with English as a link language)

Sotho :

South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Spanish :

Argentina
Bolivia (with Aymara and Quecha)
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea(with Bubi and Fang)
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

Swahili :

Kenya (with English)
Tanzania
Uganda

Swazi :

Swaziland (with English)
South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Swedish :

Finland (with Finnish)
�land (unilingually Swedish) (an autonomous province under Finnish sovereignty)

Tamil :

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)

Tok Pisin :

Papua New Guinea (with English and Motu)

Tsonga :

South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Tswana :

South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Turkish :

Turkey

Urdu :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)
Pakistan

Venda:

South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa, Zulu)

Vietnamese :

Vietnam

Welsh:

Wales (with English)

Xhosa:

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

Aranese:

part of Spain
- Val d'Aran (with Catalan and Spanish)

Assamese:

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Basque:

part of Spain
- Basque Country (with Spanish)

Bengali:

Bangladesh
India (with English, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Catalan :

Andorra
parts of Spain
- Balearic Islands (with Spanish)
- Catalonia (with Spanish)
- Valencia (named as Valencian, with Spanish)

Chipewyan:

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)

Dhivehi:

Maldives

Dogrib :

part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, and Slavey)

Frisian:

part of the Netherlands
- Friesland (with Dutch)

Telugu :

India (with English, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Galician :

part of Spain
- Galicia (with Spanish)

Gwich'in :

part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Inuktitut, and Slavey)

Gujarati:

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)

Kannada :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Kashmiri :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Ladin :

part of Italy
- the Dolomite Mountains (with Italian)

Inuvialuktun :

parts of Canada
- Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuktitut)
- Northwest Territories (included in Inuktitut; with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Slavey)

Kurdish :

part of Iraq (only in Kurdish regions, elsewhere Arabic is official)

Malayalam :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Marathi :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Oriya :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit)

Sanskrit :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi)

Sindhi :

India (with English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sanskrit)

Slavey:

part of Canada
- Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwich'in, and Inuktitut)

Internal Link

See also List of official languages by institution for the offiical languages of regional or international institutions.