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List of official languages

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This is a list of official, or otherwise administratively-recognized, languages of sovereign countries, regions, and supra-national institutions. The article also lists lots of languages which have no administrative mandate as an official language, generally describing these as de facto official languages.

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Official languages of sovereign countries, wholly or partly

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A

Abkhaz:

Afar:

Afrikaans:

Aja-Gbe:

Albanian:

Akuapem Twi:

Amharic:

Anii:

Arabic (see also List of countries where Arabic is an official language):

Araona:

Armenian:

Asante Twi:

Assamese:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages, and with English as a link language)

Aymara:

Ayoreo (Zamuco):

Azerbaijani:

B

Balanta:

Bambara:

Bariba:

Basque:

Bassari:

Baure:

Bedik:

Belarusian:

Bengali:

Berber:

Biali:

Bislama:

Boko:

Bomu:

Bosnian:

Bozo:

Buduma:

Bulgarian:

Burmese:

C

Canichana:

Cantonese:

Carolinian:

Catalan:

Cavineña:

Cayubaba:

Chácobo:

Chamorro:

Chichewa:

Chimané:

Chinese, Mandarin:

Chipewyan:

Chirbawe (Sena):

Comorian:

Corsican:

Cree:

Croatian:

Czech:

  • Czech Republic
  • Slovakia (legislation states that a person using Czech language at a Slovak institution must be treated as if using Slovak language)

D

Dagaare:

Dagbani:

Dangme:

Danish:

Dari:

  • Afghanistan (a local variant of Persian, but defined as "Dari" in the Afghan constitution; together with Pashto)[33]

Dendi:

Dhivehi:

Dioula:

Dogon:

Dutch:

sole official language in:
co-official language in:

Dzongkha:

E

English (see also List of countries where English is an official language):

Ese Ejja:

Estonian:

Ewe-Gbe:

F

Fante:

Faroese:

Fijian:

Filipino:

Finnish:

Fon-Gbe:

Foodo:

Formosan:

French (see also List of countries where French is an official language):

sole official language in:
co-official language in:
Official language in:

Fula:

G

Ga:

Gàidhlig:

Gbe:

Gen-Gbe:

Georgian:

German:

sole official language in:
Official language in 21 cantons:

Gonja:

Gourmanché:

Greek:

Guaraní:

Guarayu:

Gujarati:

  • India

Gwichʼin:

H

Haitian Creole:

Hakka:

Hassaniya:

Hausa:

Hebrew:

  • Israel

Hindi:

Hiri Motu:

Hungarian:

I

Igbo:

Ignaciano Moxos:

Icelandic:

Indonesian:

Inuinnaqtun:

Inuit:

Inuktitut:

Inuvialuktun:

Irish:

Italian:

Official language in:

Itene:

Itonama:

J

Japanese:

  • Japan (de facto)
  • Palau (Angaur)

Javanese:

  • native to Java; Indonesia
    • Special region of Yogyakarta

Jèrriais:

Jola:

K

Kabye:

Kalanga:

Kallawaya:

Kannada:

  • India (Karnataka) (with 21 other regional Languages, Hindi and English as the languages of Union of India)

Kanuri:

Kasem:

Kazakh:

Khmer:

Kinyarwanda:

Kirundi:

Kissi:

Koisan (Tshuwau):

Korean:

Korean Sign Language:

Kpelle:

Kurdish:

Kyrgyz:

L

Lao:

Latin:

Latvian:

Leco:

Lithuanian:

Lukpa:

Luxembourgish:

M

Macedonian:

Malagasy:

Malay:

Malinke:

Maltese:

Mamara:

Manding (Mandinka, Malinke):

Mandinka:

Mandjak:

Mankanya:

Manx Gaelic:

Māori:

  • New Zealand (with English and New Zealand Sign Language)

Marshallese:

Mauritian Creole:

Mbelime:

Meitei (officially known as Manipuri):

  • India (along with 21 other scheduled languages recognised by the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution)

Mongolian:

Montenegrin:

Mosetén:

Mossi:

Movima:

N

Nambya:

Nateni:

Nauruan:

Navajo:

Ndau:

Ndebele (Northern):

Ndebele (Southern):

Nepali:

New Zealand Sign Language:

  • New Zealand (with English and Māori)

Noon:

North Slavey:

Northern Sotho:

Norwegian:

  • Norway (two official written forms – Bokmål and Nynorsk)

Nzema:

O

Oniyan:

Oriya:

  • India (with 21 other regional Languages, and with English as a link language)

Oromo:

Ossetian:

P

Pakawara:

Palauan:

Papiamento:

Pashto:

Persian:

Polish:

Portuguese:

Punjabi:

Puquina:

Q

Quechua:

R

Romanian:

Romansh:

Russian:

S

Safen:

Samoan:

Sango:

Sena:

Scots:

Serbian:

Serer:

Seychellois Creole:

Shona:

Sinhala:

Sioux:

Sirionó:

Slovak:

Slovene:

Somali:

Songhay-Zarma:

Soninke:

Sonsorolese:

Sotho:

South African Sign Language:

South Slavey:

Spanish:

Susu:

Swahili:

Swati:

Swedish:

Syenara:

T

Tacana:

Taiwan Sign Language:

Taiwanese Hokkien:

Tajik:

Tagalog:

Tapieté:

Tamasheq:

Tamil:

Tammari:

Tasawaq:

Tebu:

Telugu:

Tetum:

Thai:

Tigrinya:

Tłı̨chǫ:

Tobian:

Tok Pisin:

Toma:

Tonga:

Tongan:

Toromono:

Trinitario Moxos:

Tsonga:

Tswana:

Turkish:

Turkmen:

Tuvaluan:

U

Ukrainian:

Urdu:

  • Pakistan (with English)
  • India (Urdu dialect and in script it is Sanscrit with 21 other regional languages, and with English as a link language)

Uru-Chipaya:

Uzbek:

V

Venda:

Vietnamese:

W

Waama:

Waci-Gbe:

Wamey:

Weenhayek:

Welsh:

Wolof:

X

Xhosa:

Xwela-Gbe:

Y

Yaminawa:

Yobe:

Yom:

Yoruba:

Yuki:

Yuracaré:

Z

Zimbabwean sign language:

Zulu:

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List of languages by the number of countries in which they are the most widely used

This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are de jure or de facto official, co-official, an administrative or working language.[74]

More information Language, Number of countries language spoken ...
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List of languages by number of countries in which they are the official language

Summarize
Perspective

This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are de jure or de facto official, although there are no precise inclusion criteria or definition of a language. An '*' (asterisk) indicates a country whose independence is disputed.

Partially recognized or de facto independent countries are denoted by an asterisk (*)

More information Language, World ...
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Official regional and minority languages

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Perspective

Abaza:

Adyghe:

Aghul:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Aklanon:

  • Visayas (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kinaray-a, Surigaonon, Tagalog, and Waray)[80]

Albanian:

Altay:

Arabic:

Aranese see Occitan

Armenian:

Aromanian:

Assamese:

Avar:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Azeri:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Balkar:

Bashkir:

Basque:

Bengali:

Bikol:

  • Luzon and Visayas (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Pangasinan, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tagalog, and Waray)[80]

Bosnian:

Buryat:

Cantonese Chinese:

  • China:

Catalan:

Cebuano:

  • Visayas and Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Bikol, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray, and Yakan)[80]

Chavacano:

  • Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Maguindanao, Maranao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, and Yakan)[80]

Chechen:

Cherkess:

Cherokee:

Chipewyan:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Chukchi:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Chukchi population)[88]

Chuvash:

Cree:

  • Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Crimean Tatar

  • Crimea (with Russian and Ukrainian)

Croatian:

Dargwa:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Dolgan:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Dolgan population)[88]

Dutch:

English:

  • parts of Canada:
See also: Language policies of Canada's provinces and territories
  • The United Kingdom:

Erzya:

Even:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Even population)[88]

Evenki:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Evenki population)[88]

Faroese:

Finnish:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Karelian and Veps)[91]

French:

  • parts of Canada

Frisian (West):

Friulian:

  • The Friuli region of northeastern Italy

Gagauz:

Galician:

  • part of Spain

German:

Greek:

Guaraní:

Gujarati:

Gwich'in:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Hawaiian:

Hiligaynon:

  • Visayas and Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray, and Yakan)[80]

Hindi:

Hungarian:

Ibanag:

  • Luzon (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Sambal, and Tagalog)[80]

Ilocano:

  • Luzon and Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Maguindanao, Maranao, Pangasinan, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, and Yakan.)[80]

Ingush:

Inuinnaqtun:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))
  • Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuktitut)

Inuktitut:

  • Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuinnaqtun)
  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Inuvialuktun:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Irish:

Italian:

Ivatan:

  • Luzon (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Ibanag, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Sambal, and Tagalog)[80]

Japanese:

Kabardian:

Kalaallisut:

Kalmyk:

Kannada:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Kapampangan:

  • Luzon (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Ilocano, Ibanag, Ivatan, Pangasinan, Sambal, and Tagalog)[80]

Karachay:

Karelian:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Finnish and Veps)[91]

Kashmiri:

Kazakh:

Khakas:

Khanty:

Kinaray-a:

  • Visayas (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Surigaonon, Tagalog, and Waray)[80]

Komi:

Komi-Permyak:

Korean:

Kumyk:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Kyrgyz:

Lak:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Lezgian:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Macedonian

Maguindanao:

  • Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Maranao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, and Yakan)[80]

Malayalam:

Mansi:

Maranao:

  • Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Maguindanao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, and Yakan)[80]

Marathi:

Mari (Hill and Meadow):

Mayan:

Meitei (officially known as Manipuri):

Mi'kmaq:

  • Nova Scotia ("first language"; with English (de facto), French, Scottish Gaelic)

Moksha:

Mongolian:

Náhuatl:

  • Mexico (*only recognized)
  • El Salvador (*only recognized)

Nenets:

Nepali:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Nogai:

Occitan:

Odia:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Ossetic (Digor and Iron dialects):

Pangasinan:

  • Luzon (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Sambal, and Tagalog)[80]

Portuguese:

Punjabi:

Romanian:

  • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak and Ruthenian)

Russian. Russian is fixed as a state language in the Constitutions of the republics of the Russian Federation:

Rusyn:

  • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak)
  • Ukraine
    • Zakarapts'ka region (with Ukrainian, Hungarian)

Rutul:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Sakha:

Sambal:

  • Luzon (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Bikol, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, and Tagalog)[80]

Sami:

  • Finland (in four municipalities)
  • Norway (in six municipalities in two provinces)
  • Sweden (in four municipalities and surrounding municipalities)

Sanskrit:

Saraiki

Sarikoli:

Selkup:

Serbian:

Sindhi:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)
  • Pakistan (Official language in the province of Sindh along with Urdu and English)

North and South Slavey:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Slovak:

  • part of Serbia
    • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian and Ruthenian)

Slovene:

Spanish:

Surigaonon:

  • Visayas and Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray, and Yakan)[80]

Tabasaran:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Tagalog:

  • Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Pangasinan, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tausug, Waray, and Yakan)[80]

Tahitian:

Tamil:

Tat:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Tatar:

Tausug:

  • Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Maguindanao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Maranao, and Yakan)[80]

Telugu:

Tibetan:

Tłįchǫ:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, and South Slavey)

Tsakhur:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[79]

Tswana:

Turkish:

Tuvan:

Udmurt:

Urdu:

  • Pakistan (with English as co-official language)
  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Uyghur:

Veps:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Finnish and Karelian)[91]

Vietnamese:

Waray:

Welsh:

  • Wales (United Kingdom) (with English)

Yakan:

  • Mindanao (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Maguindanao, Maranao, Surigaonon, Tagalog, and Tausug)[80]

Yiddish:

Yukaghir:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Yukaghir population)[88]

Zhuang:

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See also

Notes

  1. The sovereignty of Kosovo is disputed. See International recognition of Kosovo.
  2. In the United States of America, English is the language of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States and is the working language of the federal government. It was first declared the official language by Executive Order 14224 in 2025.[42] Some states - such as Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas - provide official documents in both Spanish and English. Attempts to designate English as the official language of the federal government of the United States by act of Congress have not succeeded. See also Languages of the United States.
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References

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