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, but Dari functions as the lingua franca
note: the Turkic languages Uzbek and Turkmen, as well as Balochi, Pashai, Nuristani, and Pamiri are the third official languages in areas where the majority speaks them
Akrotiri English, Greek
Albania Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects
Algeria Arabic (official), French (lingua franca), Berber dialects: Kabylie Berber (Tamazight), Chaouia Berber (Tachawit), Mzab Berber, Tuareg Berber (Tamahaq)
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, indigenous (Mapudungun, Quechua)
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) 23.4%, Russian (official) 70.2%, other 6.4% (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%
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 (official)
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) 76.8%, Turkish 8.2%, Roma 3.8%, other 0.7%, other (unknown) 10.5% (2011 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)
Cabo Verde Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)
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)
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 95.4%, Slovak 1.6%, other 3% (2011 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), indigenous (Quechua, Shuar)
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 Oromo (official regional) 33.8%, Amharic (official) 29.3%, Somali 6.2%, Tigrayan (official regional) 5.9%, Sidamo 4%, Wolaytta 2.2%, Guragiegna 2%, Afar 1.7%, Hadiyya 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, other 11.7%, English (official) (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (official) (2007 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 - about 18% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken foreign language - about 38% of the EU population is conversant with it (2013)
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) 89.5%, English (official) 3.5%, Putonghua (Mandarin) 1.4%, other Chinese dialects 4%, other 1.6% (2011 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 (official) 53%, Azeri Turkic and Turkic dialects 18%, Kurdish 10%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 7%, Luri 6%, Balochi 2%, Arabic 2%, other 2%
Iraq Arabic (official), Kurdish (official), Turkmen (a Turkish dialect) and Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic) are official in areas where they constitute a majority of the population), 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 (official) (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 (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)
Liechtenstein German (official), Alemannic dialect
Lithuania Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
Luxembourg Luxembourgish (official administrative language and national language (spoken vernacular)), French (official administrative language), German (official administrative language)
Macau Cantonese 83.3%, Mandarin 5%, Hokkien 3.7%, other Chinese dialects 2%, English 2.3%, Tagalog 1.7%, Portuguese 0.7%, other 1.3%
note: Chinese and Portuguese are the official language (2011 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 46.3%, Peul/foulfoulbe 9.4%, Dogon 7.2%, Maraka/soninke 6.4%, Malinke 5.6%, Sonrhai/djerma 5.6%, Minianka 4.3%, Tamacheq 3.5%, Senoufo 2.6%, unspecified 0.6%, other 8.5%
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% (official), Turkic, Russian (1999)
Montenegro Serbian 63.6%, Montenegrin (official) 22%, Bosnian 5.5%, Albanian 5.3%, unspecified (includes Croatian) 3.7% (2003 census)
Montserrat English
Morocco Arabic (official), Berber languages (Tamazight (official), Tachelhit, Tarifit), 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% (1997 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 (official) 22.4%, English (official) 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%, Saraiki (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 (official) 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 836 indigenous languages spoken (about 12% of the world's total); most languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers
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 (official) 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 (official, according to the Transitional Federal Charter), Italian, English
South Africa IsiZulu (official) 23.82%, IsiXhosa (official) 17.64%, Afrikaans (official) 13.35%, Sepedi (offcial) 9.39%, English (official) 8.2%, Setswana (official) 8.2%, Sesotho (official) 7.93%, Xitsonga (official) 4.44%, siSwati (official) 2.66%, Tshivenda (official) 2.28%, isiNdebele (official) 1.59%, other 0.5% (2001 census)
South Sudan English (official), Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants) (official), regional languages include Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande, Shilluk
Spain Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, and Basque 2%
note: Catalan is official in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community (where it is known as Valencian); in the northwest corner of Catalonia (Vall d'Aran), Aranese is official along with Catalan; Galician is official in Galicia; Basque is official in the Basque Country and in the Basque-speaking area of Navarre
Sri Lanka Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution
Sudan Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Fur
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), Berber (Tamazight)
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) (2012)
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: the US has no official national language, but English has acquired official status in 28 of the 50 states; 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 - official) 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 12.44%, Spanish 4.85%, English 4.83%, Arabic 3.25%, Hindi 2.68%, Bengali 2.66%, Portuguese 2.62%, Russian 2.12%, Japanese 1.8%, Standard German 1.33%, Javanese 1.25% (2009 est.)
note 1: percents are for "first language" speakers only; the six UN languages - Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Russian, and Spanish (Castilian) - are the mother tongue or second language of about half of the world's population, and are the official languages in more than half the states in the world; some 150 to 200 languages have more than a million speakers
note 2: all told, there are an estimated 7,100 languages spoken in the world; aproximately 80% of these languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people; about 50 languages are spoken by only 1 person; communities that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 836 separate languages
note 3: approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,150, in Africa, 1,311 in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 280 in Europe
Yemen Arabic (official)
Zambia 11 Bantu languages (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