| Field Listing :: Languages |
| This entry provides a rank ordering of languages starting with the largest and sometimes includes the percent of total population speaking that language. | |
Country |
Languages(%) |
|---|
| Afghanistan | 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 |
| Akrotiri | English, Greek |
| Albania | Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects |
| Algeria | Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects |
| 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) |
| Andorra | Catalan (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese |
| Angola | Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages |
| Anguilla | English (official) |
| Antigua and Barbuda | English (official), local dialects |
| Argentina | Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French |
| Armenia | Armenian (official) 97.7%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001 census) |
| 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) |
| Austria | 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) |
| Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani (Azeri) (official) 90.3%, Lezgi 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified 1% (1999 census) |
| Bahamas, The | English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants) |
| Bahrain | Arabic (official), English, Farsi, Urdu |
| Bangladesh | Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English |
| Barbados | English |
| Belarus | Belarusian (official) 36.7%, Russian (official) 62.8%, other 0.5% (includes small Polish- and Ukrainian-speaking minorities) (1999 census) |
| Belgium | Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French) |
| 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) |
| 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 | Sharchhopka 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26% (2005 Census) |
| Bolivia | Spanish (official) 60.7%, Quechua (official) 21.2%, Aymara (official) 14.6%, foreign languages 2.4%, other 1.2% (2001 census) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian (official), Croatian (official), Serbian |
| Botswana | Setswana 78.2%, Kalanga 7.9%, Sekgalagadi 2.8%, English (official) 2.1%, 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 |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian (official) 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) |
| Burkina Faso | French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population |
| Burma |
Burmese (official)
note: 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 (official) 58.8%, French (official) 21.6%, other 19.6% (2006 Census) |
| Cape Verde | Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) |
| Cayman Islands | English (official) 95%, Spanish 3.2%, other 1.8% (1999 census) |
| Central African Republic | French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages |
| Chad | French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects |
| Chile | Spanish (official), Mapudungun, German, English |
| China |
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (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: Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet) |
| Christmas Island | English (official), Chinese, Malay |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Malay (Cocos dialect), English |
| Colombia | Spanish (official) |
| Comoros | Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (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 is the most widespread) |
| Cook Islands | English (official), Maori |
| Costa Rica | Spanish (official), English |
| Cote d'Ivoire | French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken |
| Croatia | Croatian (official) 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) 2.9% (2001 census) |
| Cuba | Spanish (official) |
| Curacao | Papiamentu (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 81.2%, Dutch (official) 8%, Spanish 4%, English 2.9%, other 3.9% (2001 census) |
| Cyprus | Greek (official), Turkish (official), English |
| Czech Republic | Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census) |
| Denmark |
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language |
| Dhekelia | English, Greek |
| Djibouti | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar |
| Dominica | English (official), French patois |
| Dominican Republic | Spanish (official) |
| Ecuador | Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua) |
| Egypt | Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes |
| El Salvador | Spanish (official), Nahua (among some Amerindians) |
| Equatorial Guinea | Spanish (official) 67.6%, other (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) 32.4% (1994 census) |
| Eritrea | Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages |
| Estonia | Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000 census) |
| Ethiopia | Amarigna (Amharic) (official) 32.7%, Oromigna (official regional) 31.6%, Tigrigna (official regional) 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (official) (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (official) (1994 census) |
| 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 |
| Faroe Islands | Faroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish |
| Fiji | English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani |
| Finland | Finnish (official) 91.2%, Swedish (official) 5.5%, other (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) 3.3% (2007) |
| France |
French (official) 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
overseas departments: French, Creole patois, Mahorian (a Swahili dialect) |
| French Polynesia | French (official) 61.1%, Polynesian (official) 31.4%, Asian languages 1.2%, other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census) |
| Gabon | French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi |
| Gambia, The | English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars |
| Gaza Strip | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Georgia |
Georgian (official) 71%, Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%
note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia |
| Germany | German |
| Ghana | 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) |
| Gibraltar | English (used in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese |
| Greece | Greek (official) 99%, other (includes English and French) 1% |
| Greenland | Greenlandic (East Inuit) (official), Danish (official), 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) |
| Guatemala |
Spanish (official) 60%, Amerindian languages 40%
note: there are 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca |
| Guernsey | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts |
| Guinea |
French (official)
note: each ethnic group has its own language |
| Guinea-Bissau | Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages |
| Guyana | English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Urdu |
| Haiti | French (official), Creole (official) |
| Holy See (Vatican City) | Italian, Latin, French, various other languages |
| Honduras | Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects |
| Hong Kong | Cantonese (official) 90.8%, English (official) 2.8%, Putonghua (Mandarin) 0.9%, other Chinese dialects 4.4%, other 1.1% (2006 census) |
| Hungary | Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census) |
| 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 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) |
| Indonesia | Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (of which the most widely spoken is Javanese) |
| Iran | Persian and Persian dialects (official) 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2% |
| Iraq | Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Turkoman (a Turkish dialect), Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic), Armenian |
| Ireland | English (official,the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken mainly in areas along the western coast |
| Isle of Man | English, Manx Gaelic (about 2% of the population has some knowledge) |
| 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, English patois |
| Japan | Japanese |
| Jersey | English 94.5% (official), Portuguese 4.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census) |
| Jordan | Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes) |
| Kazakhstan | Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.) |
| Kenya | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages |
| Kiribati | I-Kiribati, English (official) |
| Korea, North | Korean |
| Korea, South | Korean, English (widely taught in junior high and high school) |
| Kosovo | Albanian (official), Serbian (official), Bosnian, Turkish, Roma |
| Kuwait | Arabic (official), English widely spoken |
| Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz (official) 64.7%, Uzbek 13.6%, Russian (official) 12.5%, Dungun 1%, other 8.2% (1999 census) |
| Laos | Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages |
| Latvia | Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census) |
| 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,
note: all are widely understood in the major cities |
| Liechtenstein | German (official), Alemannic dialect |
| Lithuania | Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census) |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourgish (national language), German (administrative language), French (administrative language) |
| Macau | Cantonese 85.7%, Hokkien 4%, Mandarin 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 2.7%, English 1.5%, Tagalog 1.3%, other 1.6% (2001 census) |
| Macedonia | Macedonian (official) 66.5%, Albanian (official) 25.1%, Turkish 3.5%, Roma 1.9%, Serbian 1.2%, other 1.8% (2002 census) |
| Madagascar | French (official), Malagasy (official), English |
| Malawi | Chichewa (official) 57.2%, Chinyanja 12.8%, Chiyao 10.1%, Chitumbuka 9.5%, Chisena 2.7%, Chilomwe 2.4%, Chitonga 1.7%, other 3.6% (1998 census) |
| 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 | Dhivehi (official, dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English (spoken by most government officials) |
| Mali | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages |
| 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 |
| Mauritania | Arabic (official and national), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French, Hassaniya |
| 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) |
| Mexico |
Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8%
note: indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages (2005) |
| Micronesia, Federated States of | English (official and common language), Chuukese, Kosrean, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi |
| 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 (1999) |
| Montenegro | Serbian 63.6%, Montenegrin (official) 22%, Bosnian 5.5%, Albanian 5.3%, unspecified 3.7% (2003 census) |
| Montserrat | English |
| Morocco | Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French (often the language of business, government, and diplomacy) |
| Mozambique | 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% (2007 census) |
| Namibia | English (official) 7%, Afrikaans (common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population), German 32%, indigenous languages (includes Oshivambo, Herero, Nama) 1% |
| Nauru | Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English (widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes) |
| Nepal |
Nepali (official) 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 | Dutch (official), Frisian (official) |
| New Caledonia | French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects |
| New Zealand |
English (official) 91.2%, Maori (official) 3.9%, Samoan 2.1%, French 1.3%, Hindi 1.1%, Yue 1.1%, Northern Chinese 1%, other 12.9%, New Zealand Sign Language (official)
note: shares sum to 114.6% due to multiple responses on census (2006 Census) |
| Nicaragua |
Spanish (official) 97.5%, Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages found on the Atlantic coast |
| Niger | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
| Nigeria | English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages |
| Niue | English (official), Niuean (a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan) |
| 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) |
| Norway |
Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
note: Sami is official in six municipalities |
| 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; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and other 8% |
| Palau |
Palauan (official on most islands) 64.7%, 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)
note: Sonsoral (Sonsoralese 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 are bilingual |
| Papua New Guinea |
Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), 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% |
| Paraguay | Spanish (official), Guarani (official) |
| Peru | Spanish (official) 84.1%, Quechua (official) 13%, Aymara 1.7%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.7%, other 0.2% (2007 Census) |
| 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) |
| Poland | Polish (official) 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census) |
| Portugal | Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official, but locally used) |
| Puerto Rico | Spanish, English |
| Qatar | Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language |
| Romania | Romanian (official) 91%, Hungarian 6.7%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 1.2% |
| Russia | Russian (official), many minority languages |
| Rwanda | Kinyarwanda (official, universal Bantu vernacular), French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili, used in commercial centers) |
| Saint Barthelemy | French (primary), English |
| Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha | English |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | English (official) |
| Saint Lucia | English (official), French patois |
| Saint Martin | French (official), English, Dutch, French Patois, Spanish, Papiamento (dialect of Netherlands Antilles) |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | French (official) |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | English, French patois |
| Samoa | Samoan (Polynesian) (official), English |
| San Marino | Italian |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Portuguese (official) |
| Saudi Arabia | Arabic (official) |
| Senegal | French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka |
| Serbia |
Serbian (official) 88.3%, Hungarian 3.8%, Bosniak 1.8%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 4.1%, unknown 0.9% (2002 census)
note: Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Croatian all official in Vojvodina |
| Seychelles | Creole 91.8%, English (official) 4.9%, 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 (official) 35%, English (official) 23%, Malay (official) 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil (official) 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census) |
| Sint Maarten | 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) |
| Slovakia | Slovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census) |
| Slovenia | Slovenian (official) 91.1%, Serbo-Croatian 4.5%, other or unspecified 4.4%, Italian (official, only in municipalities where Italian national communities reside, Hungarian (official, only in municipalities where Hungarian national communities reside (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 (official) 23.8%, IsiXhosa (official) 17.6%, Afrikaans (official) 13.3%, Sepedi (offcial) 9.4%, English (official) 8.2%, Setswana (official) 8.2%, Sesotho (official) 7.9%, Xitsonga (official) 4.4%, other 7.2%, isiNdebele (official), Tshivenda (official), siSwati (official) (2001 census) |
| Spain | Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, and Basque 2% (official regionally) |
| 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 |
| Svalbard | Norwegian, Russian |
| Swaziland | English (official, used for government business), siSwati (official) |
| Sweden | Swedish (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities |
| 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) |
| Taiwan | Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects |
| Tajikistan | Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business |
| 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 a significant portion of the population |
| Togo | 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) |
| Tokelau | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
| Tonga | Tongan (official), English (official) |
| Trinidad and Tobago | English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese |
| Tunisia | Arabic (official, one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce) |
| Turkey | Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmen (official) 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | English (official) |
| Tuvalu | Tuvaluan (official), English (official), 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 |
| Ukraine | Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, other (includes small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 9% |
| United Arab Emirates | Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu |
| United Kingdom |
English
note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland), Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland), Welsh (about 20% of the population of Wales), Irish (about 10% of the population of Northern Ireland), Cornish (some 2,000 to 3,000 in Cornwall) |
| 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 |
| Uruguay | Spanish (official), Portunol, Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) |
| Uzbekistan | Uzbek (official) 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1% |
| Vanuatu | local languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English (official) 1.9%, French (official) 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census) |
| Venezuela | Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects |
| 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) |
| Wallis and Futuna | Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language) 58.9%, Futunian 30.1%, French (official) 10.8%, other 0.2% (2003 census) |
| West Bank | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| Western Sahara | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic |
| World |
Mandarin Chinese 12.65%, Spanish 4.93%, English 4.91%, Arabic 3.31%, Hindi 2.73%, Bengali 2.71%, Portuguese 2.67%, Russian 2.16%, Japanese 1.83%, Standard German 1.35%, Javanese 1.27% (2008 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
| Yemen | Arabic (official) |
| Zambia | Bemba (official) 30.1%, Nyanja (official) 10.7%, Tonga (official) 10.6%, Lozi (official) 5.7%, Chewa 4.9%, Nsenga 3.4%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (official) 2.2%, Kaonde (official) 2%, Lala 2%, Luvale (official) 1.7%, English (official) 1.7%, other 22.5% (2000 Census) |
| Zimbabwe | English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects |