List of official languages

Introduction

Half the countries in the world have official languages. Some of them have more than one official language, as Afghanistan or Bolivia. In some countries, as Iraq or Spain, there is an official language for the country, and some languages are co-official in some important regions. Some countries, as United States have no official languages, but there are official languages in some states (See Languages in the United States). Finally, some countries have no official languages, as Eritrea, Luxembourg, Sweden, Tuvalu or United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In some countries in Africa and the Philippines the official languages (French or English) are not the national languages or the most spoken. In contrast, in the Republic of Ireland what is the state's official national language (Irish) is actually spoken by only a small proportion of people, while the language given secondary inferior legal status (English) is actually the spoken language of the majority.

Afrikaans is an official language of:

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

Albanian is an official language of:

• Albania

Arabic is an official language of:

• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Chad
• Djibouti
• Iraq (with Kurdish)
• Israel (with Hebrew)
• Lebanon
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Sudan
• Syria
• The United Arab Emirates
• Yemen

Aranese is an official language of:

• Spain (co-official in Val d'Aran with Castilian Spanish)

Armenian is an official language of:

• Armenia

Azeri is an official language of:

• Azerbaijan

Basque is an official language of:

• Spain (co-official in Basque Country with Castilian Spanish)

Bulgarian is an official language of:

• Bulgaria

Catalan is an official language of:

• Andorra
• Spain (co-official in Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia (as Valencian) with Castilian Spanish)

Dari is an official language of:

• Afghanistan (with Pashtu)

Dutch is an official language of:

• Belgium (with French and German)
• The Netherlands
• Suriname

English is an official language of:

• Australia
• Bahamas
• Botswana(but the national language is Setswana)
• Canada (with French)
• Fiji (but the national language is Fijian)
• Kenya (with Kiswahili)
• Kiribati
• Nigeria
• Republic of Ireland (but secondary to Irish)
• South Africa (with Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)
• New Zealand
• The Philippines
• The Gambia
• in United States: (See English-only movement; English is not federally official, but is in the following states:)
  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii (with Hawaiian)
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Hampshire
  • New Mexico (with Spanish)
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia
  • Wyoming

Finnish is the official language of:

• Finland (with Swedish)

French is an official language of:

• Belgium (with Dutch and German)
• Canada (with English)
  • New Brunswick (with English)
  • Quebec
• Chad
• Congo-Brazzaville
• Congo-Kinshasa
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Djibouti
• France
• Haiti (with Haitian Creole)
• Italy (in Valle d'Aosta, along with Italian and German, Ladin and Sardinian in some other provinces)
• Monaco
• Haiti
• Switzerland (with German, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch)

Galician is an official language of:

• Spain (co-official in Galicia with Castilian Spanish)

German is an official language of:

• Austria
• Belgium (with Dutch and French)
• Germany
• Italy (in Bolzano province, along with Italian and French, Ladin and Sardinian in some other provinces)
• Switzerland (with French, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch)

Haitian Creole is an official langauge of:

• Haiti (with French)

Hebrew is an official language of:

• Israel (with Arabic)

Irish is the first official language of:

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

Italian is an official language of:

• Italy (with German, French, Ladin and Sardinian in some provinces)
• Switzerland (with German, French, and Rhaeto-Romansch)
• San Marino

Japanese is an official language of:

• Japan

Kazakh is an official language of:

• Kazakhstan

Kiswahili is an official language of:

• Kenya (with English)

Korean is an official language of:

• Korea

Kurdish is an official language of:

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

Ladin is an official language of:

• Italy (only in the Dolomite Mountains, along with Italian and French, German and Sardinian in some provinces)

Latin is an official language of:

• Vatican City

Latvian is an official language of:

• Latvia

Mandarin Chinese is an official language of:

• the People's Republic of China
• Taiwan

Moldovan is an official language of:

• Moldova

Ndebele is an official language of:

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

Nepali is an official language of:

• Nepal

Northern Sotho is an official language of:

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

Pashtu is an official language of:

• Afghanistan (with Dari)

Portuguese is an official language of:

• Brazil
• Mozambique

Rhaeto-Romansch is an official language of:

• Switzerland (with German, French, and Italian)

Russian is an official language of:

• Kazakhstan (with Kazakh)
• Russia

Sardinian is an official language of:

• Italy (partially official on Sardinia, along with Italian and French, German and Ladin in some other provinces)

Sotho is an official language of:

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

Spanish is an official language of:

• Argentina
• Bolivia (with Aymara and Quecha)
• Chile
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea(with Bubi and Fang)
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Spain (Aranese, Basque, Catalan and Galician are co-official in some regions)
• Panama
• Paraguay(with Guarani)
• Peru
• in United States:
  • New Mexico (with English)
• Venezuela
• Uruguay

Swazi is an official language of:

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

Swedish is an official language of:

• Finland (with Finnish)
  • Åland (unilingually Swedish)

Tsonga is an official language of:

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

Tswana is an official language of:

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

Turkish is an official language of:

• Turkey

Venda is an official language of:

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

Vietnamese is an official language of:

• Vietnam

Xhosa is an official language of:

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

Zulu is an official language of:

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