List of official languages by state
Encyclopedia : L : LI : LIS : List of official languages by state
This is a complete list of the official languages designated in the sovereign states of the world. It includes all languages that have official language status either statewide or in a part of the state, regional language status, or minority language status.
Only states, which are defined as sovereign, internationally recognised, independent political entities, are listed. This is not a list of countries or nations, although many states listed, are simultaneously also countries and/or nations.
For dependent territories, refer to the corresponding sovereign states.
Definitions
- Official language: one designated as having a unique legal status in the state, typically, the language used in a nation's legislative bodies, and often, official government business
- Regional language: one designated as having official status limited to a specific area, administrative division, or territory of the state (on this page a regional language will have parentheses next to it that contain a region, province, etc. where the language has regional status)
- Minority language: (as used here) one spoken by a minority population within the state and officially designated as such; typically afforded protection and designated an officially permissible language for legal and government business in a specific area or territory of the state (on this page a minority language will be followed by parentheses that identify its minority status)
- National language: one that uniquely represents the national identity of a state, nation, and/or country and so designated by a country's government; some are technically minority languages (on this page a national language will be followed by parentheses that identify it as a national language status)
| : | Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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A
- Afghanistan
- *Arabic (statewide minority language)
- *Balochi (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- *Dari (statewide)
- *Nuristani (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- *Pashto (statewide)
- *Pamiri (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- *Pashai (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- *Turkmen (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- *Uzbek (statewide minority language) (official in areas where spoken by majority of population)
- Austria
- *Croatian (in Burgenland) (statewide minority language)
- *Czech (statewide minority language)
- *German (statewide)
- *Hungarian (in Burgenland) (statewide minority language)
- *Slovak (statewide minority language)
- *Slovenian (in Styria) (statewide minority language)
- *Romani (statewide minority language)
B
- Burkina Faso
- *French
- *More (national)
- *Jula (national)
- *Fula (national)
C
- Canada
- *Chipewyan (in the Northwest Territories)
- *Cree (in the Northwest Territories)
- *Dogrib (in the Northwest Territories)
- *English (statewide)
- *French (statewide)
- *Gwichʼin (in the Northwest Territories)
- *Inuinnaqtun (in Nunavut)
- *Inuktitut (in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut)
- *Slavey (in the Northwest Territories)
- China, People's Republic of
- *Cantonese (de facto in Hong Kong and Macau)
- *English (in Hong Kong)
- *Kazakh (in Ili Kazakh)
- *Korean (in Changbai and Yanbian)
- *Mandarin (locally know as Putonghua) (statewide, except in Hong Kong and Macau where it has de facto official status)
- *Mongolian (in Inner Mongolia)
- *Portuguese (in Macau)
- *Tajik (in Taxkorgan)
- *Tibetan (in Tibet)
- *Uyghur (in Xinjiang)
- *Zhuang (in Guangxi)
- Republic of China - ''see below
- Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- *French
- *Lingala (national)
- *Kikongo (national)
- *Swahili (national)
- *Tshiluba (national)
- Congo, Republic of the
- *French
- *Lingala (national)
- *Munukutuba (national)
D
- Denmark
- *Danish (statewide)
- *Faroese (in the Faroe Islands)
- *Kalaallisut (in Greenland)
E
F
- Finland
- *Finnish (statewide, except in the Åland Islands)
- *Sami (minority language in Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä, and Utsjoki)
- *Swedish (statewide) (in the Åland Islands Swedish is spoken monolingually)
- France
- *French (statewide)
- *Tahitian (in French Polynesia)
G
- Gambia, The
- *English
- *Mandinka (minority language)
- *Wolof (minority language)
- Georgia
- *Abkhaz (in Abkhazia)
- *Georgian (statewide, except in Abkhazia and South Ossetia)
- *Ossetic (in South Ossetia)
- *Russian (in Abkhazia)
- Germany
- *Danish (in Schleswig-Holstein) (minority language)
- *Frisian (in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony) (minority language)
- *German (statewide)
- *Romani (in Hesse)
- *Lower Sorbian (in Brandenburg) (minority language)
- *Upper Sorbian (in Saxony) (minority language)
- Ghana
- *Adangme (in Greater Accra)
- *Dagaare (in the Upper West Region)
- *Dagbani (in the Northern Region)
- *English (statewide)
- *Ewe (in the Volta Region)
- *Ga (in Greater Accra)
- *Gonja (in the Northern Region)
- *Kasem (in the Upper East Region)
- *Nzema (in the Western Region)
- *Twi (in Akuapem, Akyem, Ashanti, Fanteakwa, Fante, and Kwahu)
H
- Haiti
- *French
- *Haitian Creole (also written Kweyol)
I
- India
- *Assamese (in Assam)
- *Bengali (in Tripura and West Bengal)
- *Bodo (in Assam)
- *Dogri (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- *English (statewide)
- *Gujarati (in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Gujarat)
- *Hindi (statewide)
- *Kannada (in Karnataka)
- *Kashmiri (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- *Konkani (in Goa)
- *Maithili (in Bihar)
- *Malayalam (in Kerala and Lakshadweep)
- *Manipuri (in Manipur)
- *Marathi (in Maharashtra)
- *Nepali (in Sikkim)
- *Oriya (in Orissa)
- *Punjabi (in Punjab)
- *Sanskrit (statewide)
- *Santali (in Jharkhand)
- *Sindhi (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- *Tamil (in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry)
- *Telugu (in Andhra Pradesh)
- *Urdu (in Jammu and Kashmir)
- Indonesia
- *Balinese (minority language)
- *Indonesian
- Iraq
- *Arabic (statewide)
- *Kurdish (in the Kurdish Autonomous Region)
- Ireland, Republic of
- *English (statewide)
- *Irish (statewide)
- *Scots (in Donegal) (minority language)
- Italy
- *Albanian (statewide minority language)
- *Catalan (statewide minority language)
- *Croatian (statewide minority language)
- *Franco-Provençal (statewide minority language)
- *French (statewide minority language)
- *Friulian (statewide minority language)
- *German (statewide minority language)
- *Greek (statewide minority language)
- *Italian (statewide)
- *Ladin (statewide minority language)
- *Occitan (statewide minority language)
- *Sardinian (statewide minority language)
- *Slovenian (statewide minority language)
J
K
L
M
- Macedonia, Republic of
- *Albanian (in 29 municipalities)
- *Macedonian (statewide)
- *Romani (in Suto Orizari)
- *Serbian (in Cucer-Sandevo)
- *Turkish (in 4 municipalities)
- Marshall Islands
- *English
- *Marshallese (national)
- Mauritania
- *Arabic (national)
- *Fula (national)
- *Soninke (national)
- *Wolof (national)
- Moldova
- *Gagauz (in Gagauzia)
- *Moldovan (statewide)
- *Russian (in Gagauzia and Transnistria)
- *Ukrainian (in Transnistria)
N
- Netherlands
- *Dutch (statewide)
- *Frisian (in Friesland)
- New Zealand
- *English is a de facto official language (statewide)
- *Maori (statewide)
- *New Zealand Sign Language (statewide)
- *Cook Islands Maori (in the Cook Islands)
- *Niuean (in Niue)
- *Tokelauan (in Tokelau)
- Norway
- *Norwegian (statewide)
- *Sami (in Kautokeino, Karasjok, Kåfjord, Nesseby, Sør-Varanger, and Tana)
O
P
- Philippines
- *Arabic (recognized in Constitution)
- *Bikol (in Luzon)
- *Cebuano (in Mindanao and Visayas)
- *English (statewide)
- *Filipino (statewide) (national)
- *Hiligaynon (in Visayas)
- *Ilokano (in Luzon)
- *Kapampangan (in Luzon)
- *Kinaray-a (in Visayas)
- *Maranao (in Mindanao)
- *Maguindanao (in Mindanao)
- *Pangasinan (Luzon)
- *Spanish (recognized in Constitution)
- *Tausug (in Mindanao)
- *Waray-Waray (Visayas)
Q
R
- Russia
- *Adyghe (in Adygea)
- *Altay (in Altai)
- *Bashkir (in Bashkortostan)
- *Buriat (in Aga Buryatia, Buryatia, and Ust-Orda Buryatia)
- *Chechen (in Chechnya)
- *Chukchi (in Chukotka)
- *Chuvash (in Chuvashia)
- *Dolgan (in Taymyria)
- *Erzya (in Mordovia)
- *Evenk (in Evenkia)
- *Ingush (in Ingushetia)
- *Kabardian (in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia)
- *Kalmyk (in Kalmykia)
- *Karachay-Balkar (in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia)
- *Khakas (in Khakassia)
- *Khanty (in Khantia-Mansia)
- *Komi-Permyak (in Permyakia)
- *Komi-Zyrian (in Komia)
- *Koryak (in Koryakia)
- *Mansi (in Khantia-Mansia)
- *Mari (in Mari El)
- *Moksha (in Mordovia)
- *Nenets (in Nenetsia)
- *Ossetic (in North Ossetia-Alania)
- *Russian (federal)
- *Tatar (in Tatarstan)
- *Tuvin (in Tuva)
- *Udmurt (in Udmurtia)
- *Yakut (in Sakha)
- *Yiddish (in the Jewish Autonomous Region)
S
- Serbia
- *Albanian (in Kosovo)
- *Croatian (in Vojvodina)
- *Hungarian (in Vojvodina)
- *Romanian (in Vojvodina)
- *Ruthenian (in Vojvodina)
- *Serbian (statewide)
- *Slovak (in Vojvodina)
- Slovenia
- *Hungarian (in Dobrovnik, Hodoš, and Lendava)
- *Italian ( in Izola, Koper, and Piran)
- *Slovenian (statewide)
- Spain
- *Basque (in Basque Country and Navarre)
- *Catalan (in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia)
- *Galician (in Galicia)
- *Occitan (in Val d'Aran)
- *Spanish (statewide)
- Sudan
- *Arabic
- *English (in Southern Sudan)
- Sweden
- *No official language statewide, Swedish is the de facto official language.
- **Finnish (in Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala, Övertorneå, and the surrounding areas) (minority language)
- **Meänkieli (in Gällivare, Haparanda, Kiruna, Pajala, Övertorneå, and the surrounding areas) (minority language)
- **Romani (historical minority language)
- **Sami (in Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk, Kiruna, and the surrounding areas) (minority language)
- **Yiddish (historical minority language)
- Switzerland
- *French (in Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais, and Vaud)
- *German (in Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Glarus, Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Saint Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Uri, Valais, Zug, and Zürich)
- *Italian (in Graubünden and Ticino)
- *Romansh (in Graubünden)
T
- Taiwan (Republic of China)
- *Mandarin (locally know as Kuo-yü) (national)
U
- United Kingdom
- **No official language statewide, English is the de facto official language.
- *Cornish (in Cornwall) (minority language)
- *Dgèrnésiais (in Guernsey)
- *English (in Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Montserrat, Northern Ireland, the Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Scotland, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Wales)
- *French (in Guernsey and Jersey)
- *Irish (in Northern Ireland) (minority language)
- *Jèrriais (in Jersey)
- *Pitcairnese (in the Pitcairn Islands)
- *Scots (in Northern Ireland and Scotland) (minority language)
- *Scottish Gaelic (in Scotland)
- *Welsh (in Wales)
- United States
- **No official language nationwide, English is the de facto official language and the national language.
- *Carolinian (in the Northern Mariana Islands)
- *Chamorro (in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands)
- *English (in Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming)
- *French (in Louisiana)
- *Hawaiian (in Hawaii)
- *Samoan (in American Samoa)
- *Spanish (in New Mexico and Puerto Rico)
V
- Vatican City
- **No official language; Latin is the de facto official language.
W
Y
Z
See also
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