| Country | Languages (%) |
|---|---|
| Akrotiri | English, Greek |
| American Samoa | Samoan 90.6% (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English 2.9%, Tongan 2.4%, other Pacific islander 2.1%, other 2%
note: most people are bilingual (2000 census) |
| Anguilla | English (official) |
| Antigua and Barbuda | English (official), local dialects |
| Argentina | Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French |
| Aruba | Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 66.3%, Spanish 12.6%, English (widely spoken) 7.7%, Dutch (official) 5.8%, other 2.2%, unspecified or unknown 5.3% (2000 census) |
| Australia | English 78.5%, Chinese 2.5%, Italian 1.6%, Greek 1.3%, Arabic 1.2%, Vietnamese 1%, other 8.2%, unspecified 5.7% (2006 Census) |
| Bahamas, The | English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants) |
| Bahrain | Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu |
| Bangladesh | Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English |
| Barbados | English |
| Belize | 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) |
| Bermuda | English (official), Portuguese |
| Botswana | Setswana 78.2%, Kalanga 7.9%, Sekgalagadi 2.8%, English 2.1% (official), other 8.6%, unspecified 0.4% (2001 census) |
| Brazil | Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note - less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages |
| British Virgin Islands | English (official) |
| Brunei | Malay (official), English, Chinese |
| Cambodia | Khmer (official) 95%, French, English |
| Cameroon | 24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official) |
| Canada | English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5% |
| Cayman Islands | English 95%, Spanish 3.2%, other 1.8% (1999 census) |
| Chile | Spanish (official), Mapudungun, German, English |
| Christmas Island | English (official), Chinese, Malay |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Malay (Cocos dialect), English |
| Cook Islands | English (official), Maori |
| Costa Rica | Spanish (official), English |
| Cyprus | Greek, Turkish, English |
| Dhekelia | English, Greek |
| Dominica | English (official), French patois |
| Egypt | Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes |
| European Union | Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish
note: only official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, is the most widely spoken mother tongue - over 19% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language - about 49% of the EU population is conversant with it (2007) |
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | English |
| Fiji | English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani |
| Gambia, The | English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars |
| Gaza Strip | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Gibraltar | English (used in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese |
| Greece | Greek 99% (official), other 1% (includes English and French) |
| Greenland | Greenlandic (East Inuit) (official), Danish, English |
| Grenada | English (official), French patois |
| Guam | English 38.3%, Chamorro 22.2%, Philippine languages 22.2%, other Pacific island languages 6.8%, Asian languages 7%, other languages 3.5% (2000 census) |
| Guernsey | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts |
| Guyana | English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Urdu |
| Iceland | Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken |
| India | 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 associate status 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) |
| Indonesia | Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (the most widely spoken of which is Javanese) |
| Ireland | English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas along the western coast |
| Isle of Man | English, Manx Gaelic |
| Israel | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language |
| Jamaica | English, English patois |
| Jersey | English 94.5% (official), Portuguese 4.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census) |
| Jordan | Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes |
| Kenya | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages |
| Kiribati | I-Kiribati, English (official) |
| Korea, South | Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school |
| Kuwait | Arabic (official), English widely spoken |
| Laos | Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages |
| Lebanon | Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian |
| Lesotho | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
| Liberia | English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages few of which can be written or used in correspondence |
| Libya | Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities |
| Madagascar | English (official), French (official), Malagasy (official) |
| Malaysia | Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
note: in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan |
| Maldives | Maldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials |
| Malta | Maltese (official) 90.2%, English (official) 6%, multilingual 3%, other 0.8% (2005 census) |
| Marshall Islands | Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census)
note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language |
| Mauritius | 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) |
| Micronesia, Federated States of | English (official and common language), Chuukese, Kosrean, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi |
| Monaco | French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque |
| Montserrat | English |
| Namibia | English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages 1% (includes 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 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 (2001 est.) |
| Netherlands Antilles | 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) |
| New Zealand | English (official), Maori (official), Sign Language (official) |
| Nigeria | English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani |
| Niue | Niuean, a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan; English |
| Norfolk Island | English (official), Norfolk - a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Philippine languages 24.4%, Chinese 23.4%, Chamorro 22.4%, English 10.8%, other Pacific island languages 9.5%, other 9.6% (2000 census) |
| Oman | Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects |
| Palau | Palauan 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official), Filipino 13.5%, English 9.4%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.5%, other Asian 2.3%, other languages 1.5% (2000 census) |
| Panama | Spanish (official), English 14%; note - many Panamanians bilingual |
| Papua New Guinea | Tok Pisin, English, and Hiri Motu are official languages; some 860 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world's total)
note: Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2% |
| Philippines | Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official); eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan |
| Pitcairn Islands | English (official), Pitkern (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect) |
| Puerto Rico | Spanish, English |
| Qatar | Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language |
| Rwanda | Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers |
| Saint Barthelemy | French (primary), English |
| Saint Helena | English |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | English |
| Saint Lucia | English (official), French patois |
| Saint Martin | French (official language), English, Dutch, French Patois, Spanish, Papiamento (dialect of Netherlands Antilles) |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | English, French patois |
| Samoa | Samoan (Polynesian), English |
| Seychelles | Creole 91.8%, English 4.9% (official), other 3.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2002 census) |
| 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 | Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census) |
| Slovenia | Slovenian 91.1%, Serbo-Croatian 4.5%, other or unspecified 4.4% (2002 census) |
| Solomon Islands | Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages |
| Somalia | Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English |
| South Africa | 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) |
| Sri Lanka | 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 |
| Sudan | Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages
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), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese |
| Swaziland | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) |
| Switzerland | German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)
note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages |
| Syria | Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood |
| Tanzania | 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 |
| Thailand | Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects |
| Timor-Leste | Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English
note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people |
| Tokelau | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
| Tonga | Tongan, English |
| Trinidad and Tobago | English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | English (official) |
| Tuvalu | Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
| 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 |
| 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 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii |
| Vanuatu | local languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English 1.9%, French 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census) |
| Vietnam | Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian) |
| Virgin Islands | English 74.7%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%, French or French Creole 6.6%, other 1.9% (2000 census) |
| West Bank | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| World | Mandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, French 1.2% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
| 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 |
Source: CIA – The World Factbook