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Languages (Country profile category: People)

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

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

Bahamas, The:
English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

Bahrain:
Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu

Bangladesh:
Bangla (official), English

Barbados:
English

Belarus:
Byelorussian, Russian, other

Belgium:
Dutch 58%, French 32%, German 10%, legally bilingual

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), Arabic, Hunsa, Swahili

Chad:
French (official), Arabic (official), Sara and Sango (in south), more than 100 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, Chinese, Malay

Cocos (Keeling) Islands:
English, Malay

Colombia:
Spanish

Comoros:
Arabic (official), French (official), Comoran (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 spoken around Puerto Limon

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

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, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages

Estonia:
Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, English, Finnish, other

Ethiopia:
Amharic, Tigrinya, Orominga, Guaraginga, 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 Lapp- 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, Bateke, 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 (official 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, Russian

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% (more than 20 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, various other languages

Honduras:
Spanish, Amerindian dialects

Hong Kong:
Chinese (Cantonese), English; both are official

Hungary:
Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%

Iceland:
Icelandic

India:
English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication, Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali (official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu (official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada (official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official), Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official), Hindustani (a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India)
note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible

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, Creole

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) 40%, Russian (official, used in everyday business) 66%

Kenya:
English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages

Kiribati:
English (official), Gilbertese

Korea, North:
Korean

Korea, South:
Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school

Kuwait:
Arabic (official), English widely spoken

Kyrgyzstan:
Kirghiz (Kyrgyz) - official language, Russian - official language
note: in March 1996, the Kyrgyzstani legislature amended the constitution to make Russian an official language, along with Kirghiz, in territories and work places where Russian-speaking citizens predominate

Laos:
Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages

Latvia:
Lettish (official), Lithuanian, Russian, other

Lebanon:
Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian widely understood

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:
Luxembourgian, German, French, English

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 of which 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 (universally spoken and is the official language), two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family, Japanese

Martinique:
French, Creole patois

Mauritania:
Hasaniya Arabic (official), Pular, Soninke, Wolof (official), French

Mauritius:
English (official), Creole, French, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bojpoori

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

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

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), over 20 other languages divided into numerous dialects

Netherlands:
Dutch

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

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:
Polynesian 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 Lapp- 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 (Sonsorolese 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 (spoken by most of rural population)

Peru:
Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara

Philippines:
Pilipino (official, based on Tagalog), English (official)

Pitcairn Islands:
English (official), Pitcairnese, Tahitian, 18th century English dialect

Poland:
Polish

Portugal:
Portuguese

Puerto Rico:
Spanish, English

Qatar:
Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language

Reunion:
French (official), Creole widely used

Romania:
Romanian, 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

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 spoken by 1%-2% of 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 (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%

Sri Lanka:
Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%
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 Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Switzerland:
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 19.2%, Italian (official) 7.6%, Romansch 0.6%, other 8.9%

Syria:
Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood

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

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:
English (official), French (official), pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama)

Venezuela:
Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

Vietnam:
Vietnamese (official), Chinese, English, French, Khmer, tribal 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

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

Taiwan:
Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

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