List of multilingual countries and regions

This is an incomplete list of areas with either multilingualism at the community level or at the personal level.

There is a distinction between social and personal bilingualism. Many countries, such as Belarus, Belgium, Canada, India, Ireland, South Africa and Switzerland, which are officially multilingual, may have many monolinguals in their population. Officially monolingual countries, on the other hand, such as France, can have sizable multilingual populations. Some countries have official languages but also have regional and local official languages, notably Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia, Spain.

Africa

Central Africa

• Cameroon: English & French (official)^[1] + Cameroonian Pidgin. Many ethnic and tribal languages including Basaa, Duala, Manenguba language, Bikya, Bung, Fula, Kanuri, Ngumba, Yeni, Bamum, Bafia, Bakweri language and many others. Some also have fluency in the German, Portuguese and Spanish languages.
• Central African Republic: French & Sango (official)^[2] and 50 other African languages.
• Chad: Arabic & French (official)^[3] + more than 100 African languages.
• Democratic Republic of the Congo: French (official) + Lingala, Kongo, Swahili & Tshiluba (national languages)^[4] + 238 other languages.
• Equatorial Guinea: Spanish + French.^[5] Fang, Bube, Igbo, Pidgin English, Annobonese^[6][7]
• Republic of the Congo: French (official) + Lingala & Kituba national languages^[8] + other dialects, including Kikongo and Kituba (Kikongo creole).

East Africa

• Burundi: Kirundi (national and official)^[9] + English and French (official).^[10]
• Kenya: English (official) & Swahili (national and official)^[11] + other indigenous languages.
• Rwanda: English, French & Kinyarwanda (co-official; Kinyarwanda - also a national one).^[12]
• Seychelles: English, French & Seychellois Creole (co-official).^[13]
• Tanzania: Swahili (national) + English.^[14]
• Uganda: English (official), Swahili (second official)^[15] + Arabic, Luganda + other Bantu languages & other Nilo-Saharan languages.

Horn of Africa

• Djibouti: Arabic & French (official)^[16] + Somali & Afar.
• Eritrea: no official language, with two dominant language families: Semitic (Arabic, Tigrinya, Tigre and Dahlik) and Cushitic (Afar, Beja, Blin, Saho and Amharic)
• Ethiopia: Amharic (official); Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali, Afar, and other Cushitic and Semitic languages.
• Somalia: Somali (official) & Arabic ("second language").^[17]

North Africa

• Algeria: Arabic + Tamazight (both official and national language in the constitution)^[18][19] + French (media, education and business).
• Egypt: Arabic (official) + Egyptian Arabic, English & French.
• Libya: Arabic (official) + Tamazight, Tamahaq + Italian & English.
• Mauritania: Arabic (official and national) + Poular, Soninke, and Wolof (national)^[20]
• Morocco: Arabic + Berber (co-official).^[21] Moroccan Arabic, Hassaniya (present in the media); French and English (education and business).
  • Western Sahara (under Moroccan control): Hassaniya, Berber, Moroccan Arabic, Spanish and French.
  • Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (in exile): Arabic + Spanish and French.
• Sudan: Arabic & English (official working languages)^[22] + indigenous African languages.
• South Sudan: Arabic & English
• Tunisia: Modern Standard Arabic (official) + Tunisian Arabic, French, Berber language, English

Southern Africa

• Angola: Portuguese (official language) + Cokwe, Kikongo, Oshiwambo, and 34 additional indigenous African languages^[23]
• Botswana: English + Tswana (de facto national languages).^[24]
• Comores: Arabic, Comorian, French (official),^[25] Indian and Chinese languages.
• Lesotho: English + Sotho.^[26]
• Madagascar: French + Malagasy.^[27]
• Malawi: Chewa (de facto language of national identity) + English (statutory national working language).^[28]
• Mauritius: English (official) + French (administrative), Mauritian Creole (lingua franca), Bhojpuri ("Hindi"), Hakka, Tamil, Urdu, Marathi and Arabic.
• Mozambique: Portuguese (official language) + 43 additional indigenous African languages^[29]
• Namibia: English (official) + German, Afrikaans, Ovambo (recognised regional languages)^[30]
• South Africa: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Tswana, Swati, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu (co-official), sign language, Khoi, Nama and San (the languages, which the government is obliged to promote and to create conditions for their development).^[31]
• Swaziland: English + Swati.^[32]
• Zimbabwe: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa (officially recognised).^[33]

West Africa

• Benin: French (official) + many indigenous languages including Fon, Yoruba & Songhay (specifically Dendi).
• Burkina Faso: French (official) + Moore and Jula (regional languages)^[34] + indigenous Sudanic languages.
• Cape Verde: Portuguese + Cape Verdean Creole.^[35]
• Côte d'Ivoire: French (official) + Baule, Jula, and 60 other indigenous languages.
• Gambia: English (official) + Mandinka, Wolof, Fula & others.
• Ghana: English (official) + Akan, Dagaare/Wale, Dagbane, Dangme, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem & Nzema + 70 others.
• Guinea: French (official) + Fula & Susu.
• Guinea-Bissau: Portuguese (official) + Kriol + indigenous languages.
• Liberia: English (official) + 20 African languages.
• Mali: French (official) + Bambara (most widely spoken) + Fula + Songhay (specifically Dendi). 11 languages are used as mediums of instruction in primary schools^[36]
• Niger: French (official) + Hausa (spoken by half the population) + Songhay (specifically Zarma)
• Nigeria: English (official) + Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo as three other languages of the parliament^[37] (each of which has over 20 million speakers) + 529 other African languages (some of which have over a million speakers) + Pidgin.
• Senegal: French (official) + Wolof (most widely spoken) + Fula (specifically Pulaar), Diola, Malinké, Sérère, Soninké (national languages)^[38] + other African languages
• Sierra Leone: English (official) + Krio (most widely spoken) + Mende + Temne + other African languages
• Togo: French (official) + Ewe, Mina & Kabiyé.

Americas

A trash can in Seattle labeled in four languages: English, Chinese (垃圾), Vietnamese (should be rác), and Spanish. Tagalog also uses the Spanish word.

• Argentina has several ethnic communities of European (esp. the Welsh language in Patagonia), Asian and indigenous origins (the Andean and northeast regions), who speak their own languages, but Spanish is the sole official language of the country.
• Aruba: Papiamento and Dutch are the official languages, with Spanish and English also widely spoken. All four languages are taught in schools.^[39]
• Belize: English, Spanish and Mayan languages have some official usage, although the legacy of British rule emphasised English to be most commonly used for official purposes though the majority are Hispanophone.
• Bolivia is officially multilingual, supporting Spanish and 36 native languages.^[40]
• Brazil, Portuguese (official) and upwards to 100 languages spoken mainly in the urban areas (European and Asian) and indigenous languages in the Amazon. The use of indigenous languages in primary education is enshrined in the constitution.^[41]
  • Espírito Santo — German and Pomeranian are recognized by constitution as part of the state's cultural heritage^[42]
• Canada is officially bilingual under the Official Languages Act and the Constitution of Canada that require the federal government to deliver services in both official languages. As well, minority language rights are guaranteed where numbers warrant. 56.9% of the population speak English as their first language while 22.9% are native speakers of French. The remaining population belong to some of Canada's many immigrant populations or to the indigenous population. See Bilingualism in Canada
  • The Canadian province of New Brunswick, with a large Acadian population (33% French-speaking) is officially bilingual.^[43]
  • The Canadian province of Quebec, (7.9% English-speaking) Note: Although there is a relatively sizable English-speaking population in Quebec, French is the only official language. At the same time, certain functions in education are foreseen for English, Amerindian languages and Inuktitut, certain functions in legislative activities and judiciary - for English.^[44] Most government services are available in English and French.
  • There are also significant French language minorities in the provinces of Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. Though these provinces are not officially bilingual they do provide a number of services in French, Ontario has a particular French Language Services Act and Manitoba — a French Language Services Policy,^[45] as well as a special law on recognition of seven indigenous languages^[46]
  • Nunavut is a Canadian territory with a population that is 85% Inuit. According to Official Languages Act, its official languages are Inuit, English and French.^[47]
  • Northwest Territories have Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tåîchô as the official languages^[48]
  • Yukon allows the use of Yukon languages in its legislative assembly, along French and English^[49]
  • In many of Canada's First Nations' communities in the more isolated regions, aboriginal languages are retained. English and French are accepted in the community at the community elders' discretion.
  • In the 2006 Canadian census, information and questions are available in sixty-two languages, including eighteen First Nations languages.
• Caribbean Netherlands — Dutch (overall), English (Sint Eustatius and Saba) and Papiamentu (Bonaire)^[50]
• Chile uses de facto Spanish as official language, but there are not an act that declares officiality. The Indigenous Act ratified in 1992 permites the official usage of four indigenous languages: Aimara, Mapudungun, Quechua and Rapa Nui (Easter Island in Polynesia) inside the indigenous communities and areas with high native population density.^[51] In the southern portion, there is a sizable but bilingual German-speaking population.
• Colombia The official language is Spanish. Languages of ethnic groups are official in their territories.^[52]
  English is co-official in San Andres and Providencia.^[53]
• Curaçao — Papiamento, Dutch and English are official languages.^[54]
• Ecuador defines Spanish as its official language, but Spanish, Quechua and Shuar — as official languages of intercultural relations in the Article 2 of the 2008 Constitution.^[55]
• In Guatemala, the official language is Spanish, however, there are 23 distinct Mayan languages. Maya, Garifuna and Xincan languages are recognized to be essential elements of the national identity.^[56]
• Guyana, English (official), Hindi, Chinese, indigenous languages, and a small Portuguese-speaking community. The Amerindian Act orders the National Toshaos Council to promote the recognition and use of Amerindian languages.^[57]
• Haiti: Creole and French^[58]
• Honduras: Spanish is the official language, despite Afro-Caribbean English, Garifuna and indigenous languages can be found in the rural outskirts of the country.
• In Mexico, the government recognizes 62 indigenous languages, including Nahuatl spoken by more than 1.5 million people and Aquacatec spoken by 27 people, along with Spanish. Indigenous languages are recognised as national languages in areas where they are spoken^[59] There is no official language at the federal level, although Spanish is the de facto state language.
  • In Yucatán, Yucatec Maya language is recognised in state constitution^[60]
  • In Oaxaca state constitution, 15 indigenous communities are listed. Certain use of their languages in education and court proceedings is provided for.^[61]
• In Nicaragua, even while Spanish is the official language spoken broadwide (almost 95%, according to some sources), there are other de facto languages such as Creole, Miskitu, Rama and Mayangna (Sumu) in their own linguistic communities. According to the Constitution, the languages of the Atlantic Coasts should be used officially in cases established by law.^[62]
• Paraguay, 48% of its population is bilingual in Guaraní and Spanish (both official languages of the Republic^[63]), of whom 37% speak only Guaraní and 8% only Spanish but the latter increases with the use of Jopará. There is a large Mennonite German colony in the Gran Chaco region as well.
• Peru's official languages are Spanish and, in the zones where they are predominant, Quechua, Aymara, and other aboriginal languages.^[64] In addition to that, in Peru there is a large community of immigrants, of which few keep their languages. Within those, there are the Japanese and the Chinese (Cantonese dialect), for example and in smaller numbers, the Germans (central Andes), Italian, the Arabic speakers, and the Urdu speakers retain their native languages in Peru. The last two are products of the recent wave of immigrants from Palestine and Pakistan. Lately also have much influence is the English by the number of tourists and American and British residents.
• Puerto Rico's official languages^[65] and languages of legislature^[66] are Spanish and English, yet 85 percent of its inhabitants reported that they did not speak English "very well."
• In Suriname, Dutch, Sranan, and English are spoken by almost everyone. In addition, Chinese and various Indian languages are spoken.
• In the United States, at the federal level, there is no official language, although there have been efforts to make English the official language. Use of several languages in electoral process under certain circumstances is provided for by federal law, including Spanish in the whole states of Florida, California and Texas.^[67]
  • The US state of California has Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act^[68] requiring state and local agencies serving a “substantial number of non-English speaking people” to employ a “qualified bilingual staff” and to translate certain documents into clients’ languages.^[69]
  • The US state of New Mexico provides certatain guarantees for the use of Spanish, alongside English, in its constitution^[70] and electoral laws.^[71] Its state laws also provide for using Spanish and Native American languages in education ^[72]
  • The US state of Texas provides in its law for translating to Spanish certain information on agency websites^[73]
  • The US state of Louisiana has mandated the Louisiana French Language Services Program and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism to work on providing state government services in French, to the extent practicable^[74] It also expressly allows the use of French in legal process and publishing official documents.^[75]
  • The Saint John River valley in the US state of Maine^{[76][77][78][79]} and some areas in Vermont^[80][81] are unofficially bilingual (de facto) in English and French.
  • The US state of Hawaii is officially bilingual in English and Hawaiian.^[82]
  • The US state of Alaska officially recognizes English and the following twenty Alaska Native languages: Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unanga, Dena'ina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich'in, Tanana, Upper Tanana, Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian languages.^[83]
  • Three US territories are also bilingual: American Samoa (Samoan and English),^[84][85] and Puerto Rico (Spanish and English). Guam Code provides for bilingual education (English and Chamorro).^[86] One US territory is trilingual: Northern Marianas Islands (English, Chamorro, and Carolinian).^[87]
  • In US, states with a large historic (New Spain) and recently arrived Spanish-speaking population such as California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and Florida will often provide government services at the municipal level in Spanish as well as English. For example, in Florida, Hialeah recognizes both English and Spanish while Miami recognizes English and Spanish as official government languages.
  • Some Indian reservations in the US have begun to use indigenous languages of their tribal nations, but the official language of all the reservations is English. The most prevalent indigenous languages include Choctaw, Cherokee, Navajo, Muscogee, Lakota-Sioux and Iroquoian.
• Trinidad and Tobago - in the predominantly Creole-speaking country where English is official, Spanish is being introduced as the second language of bilingual traffic signs^[88] and generally the "first foreign language"^[89]
• Uruguay has a large Italian-speaking minority also proficient in Spanish. Its border with Brazil has a mixed Portuguese-speaking presence.
• Venezuela has declared Spanish the official language, while there are some European and Arabic languages spoken in urban areas, Caribbean English dialects in the Caribbean and indigenous languages spoken in the Guayana department. The use of native languages also has official status for native peoples^[90]

Asia

• In Afghanistan, Pashto and Dari (Afghan Persian) are the official^[91] and most widely spoken languages. Other minor languages include Uzbek and Turkmen, Balochi and Pashayi, Nuristani (Ashkunu, Kamkata-viri, Vasi-vari, Tregami and Kalasha-ala), Pamiri (Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi and Wakhi), Brahui, Hindko, Kyrgyz.^[92]
• Bahrain: Arabic is the official language, and English is the most commonly used and studied second language, especially in education, international relations, and the media. In addition, Persian and Urdu are widely spoken.
• Brunei: Malay (official), English^[93]
• Cambodia: Khmer is the official language, but French is spoken by a minority and sometimes used in government and education.
• In China, Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) is the official language and is spoken in all regions. It is used for official and formal purposes, by the media, and in education as the language of instruction. However, on money notes, there are texts both in Mandarin (Han) and in Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Zhuang.^[94] In every locality and region, local varieties of Chinese are spoken in daily life. These range from being quite similar to Putonghua, such as Tianjin dialect, to those that are mutually unintelligible with Putonghua such as Jiangsu,Zhejiang and Shanghai dialect (Wu) or Guangzhou dialect (Cantonese). In the autonomous regions, minority languages are used (such as Tibetan in Tibet^[95] or Mongolian in Inner Mongolia,^[96] Uyghur, Kazakh and others in Xinjiang^[97]).
• In Hong Kong, English and Chinese are official languages.^[98] All road signs are written in both languages. English is the dominant language in the judiciary and in higher education. Hong Kong Cantonese is the first language of the majority of the population, and is the dominant language in many aspects of everyday life. While Cantonese is the widely spoken form of Chinese in Hong Kong, Standard Mandarin is also taught in schools. The degrees of proficiency in English and Mandarin vary from person to person.
• In Macau, both Chinese and Portuguese are official languages.^[99] While Cantonese is the dominant form of Chinese, Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) is also spoken. Chinese is taught in all schools, while Portuguese is mainly taught in government schools. In addition, English is also taught in many schools.
• East Timor — Tetum and Portuguese are the official languages; English and Indonesian "shall be working languages within the public administration side by side with official languages as long as it is deemed necessary"^[100]
• India.
  

  A sign-board that indicates the direction to Sabarimala, a pilgrim station in India. The multilingual board is written in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and English (in that order, from top to bottom)
  There are 23 official languages in the states and territories of India (Including Hindi and English, the languages with official use in the whole federation^[101]). The largest, Hindi, is spoken natively by 40% of the population. English is also widely used, although mainly in urban parts of the country. An Indian with a high-school education would generally be bilingual — speaking their own native language, in addition to English, with varying fluency, possibly Hindi as well, the languages being compulsorily (in select states) taught in most schools and colleges. see Languages of India.
• Many people in Indonesia are bilingual at an early age. They speak a local native language with their families whereas the official Indonesian language is used to communicate with people from other regions and is taught in schools as a compulsory subject. Indonesia has 746 native languages.^[102]
• In Iran, Persian is the sole official language, but Azerbaijani (along with related varieties such as Qashqa'i and Kalaj) has upwards of 15 million speakers. Other minority languages include Kurdish, Turkmen, and Balochi. Assyrian is spoken by a Christian minority in the vicinity of Urmia. In the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan, most people speak Khuzestani Persian, Khuzestani Arabic, and Standard Persian, sometimes in addition to their own community languages such as Lur, Qashqa'i, Domari or Mandaic where applicable.
• In Iraq, Arabic is the official language of the state, Kurdish is the official language of the north where 4 million native speakers live. The use of Turkmen, Assyrian, and Armenian in education is provided for in the Constitution.^[103] Other languages also exist among Christian communities north of and around Baghdad, such as Aramaic.
• In Israel, Arabic and Hebrew both have official status (see Languages of Israel). Jewish immigrants to Palestine (especially from Europe) have a different mother tongue, such as Arabic, Amharic, Yiddish, Ladino, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Ukrainian, English, or French and many Jewish immigrants from Latin America speak Spanish and Portuguese. The native Arab population of Palestine speaks Arabic. Functionally, almost all Arabs in Palestine also speak Hebrew. English is widely spoken and understood as a second language by both Arabs and Jews. Officially, road signs must be in Arabic, Hebrew, and a romanized Hebrew transliteration.
• In Lebanon, Arabic is the official and national language; the Constitution provides for the conditions of using French to be provided by law.^[104] Many Lebanese are fluent in English and in French. Armenian is also a language mainly used in the Armenian community.^[105]
• In Malaysia, nearly all people have a working knowledge of Malay and English. Malay is the official language of the country, along with English in the state of Sarawak.^{[106][107][108]} Malay and English are compulsory subjects taught in all public schools, and English is the language of instruction for science and mathematics. Chinese (Mandarin) and Tamil are spoken by the Chinese and Indian communities respectively, and are the languages of instruction in Chinese and Tamil primary schools respectively. Among the Chinese community, apart from Mandarin, several Chinese dialects especially Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew and among the Indian community, apart from Tamil, several Indian dialects especially Punjabi, Malayalam and Telugu are spoken by the respective communities. The indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak speak their ancestral languages (Dayak, Iban etc.). However, it is not uncommon for the locals to be fluent in several of the above languages. The Constitution provides for use of Sabah and Sarawak languages in native courts or for any code of native law and custom.^[109]
• Pakistan. The national language is Urdu; English was allowed to be used for official purposes until arrangements are made for its replacement by Urdu^[110] There are many regional languages and dialects (the latter are often unintelligible from other dialects of the "same language"). Many high-school and college educated Pakistanis are trilingual, being able to speak English and Urdu as well as their own regional language with varying fluency.
• Philippines: The Philippine constitution. designates Filipino as the national language and, along with English, as official languages. Regional languages are designated as auxiliary official languages in the regions which shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein. Spanish and Arabic are designated to be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.^[111] Some people in native Tagalog areas are bilingual, while in non-Tagalog areas it is common to be multilingual in Filipino, English, and in one or more of the regional languages, or as in other cases in languages such as Spanish, Minnan (Hokkien), and Arabic due to factors such as ancestry and religion. Eleven regional languages are recognised by the government as auxiliary official languages in their respective regions, while 90+ other languages and dialects are spoken by various groups.
• Republics of Russia:
  • Buryatia — Russian and Buryat are official languages^[112]
  • Altai Republic — Russian and Altay are official languages^[113]
  • Tuva — Russian and Tyvan are official languages^[114]
  • Khakassia — Russian and Khakas are official languages^[115]
  • Sakha Republic — Russian and Sakha are official languages^[116]
• Singapore: English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil are all official languages. Malay is the national language.^[117] English is the main language used in Singapore. As English links the different races, a group with diverse races communicate using English. Most of the population can speak, read and write in English. In addition to English, many Singaporeans can speak their respective ethnic language fairly well, as it is a compulsory subject in school. In Chinese communities, the older generation usually speak their own dialects besides Mandarin and/or English.
• Sri Lanka. Sinhala and Tamil are official languages. English is referred to as the link language in the constitution.^[118]
• Taiwan: Mandarin is the "official" language, but Taiwanese is commonly used in most people (especially adults and elders). In the Hakka community, some people are trilingual in Hakka, Mandarin and Taiwanese. Some 10 Aboriginal languages are also spoken in the mountain and eastern portion of the island. Their promotion and use are provided for by the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law^[119]
• Tajikistan: Tajik as the state language and Russian, designated as language of interethnic communication in the constitution,^[120] are widely spoken.
• Thailand: Thai is the main and sole official language in Thailand. There are different dialects such as Phitsanulok, Ayutthaya, Suphan Buri(traditional dialect), Thonburi, but Standard Thai is influenced by Thai chinese in Bangkok, Isan which is influenced from Lao and widely used in the northeastern area, Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, Northern Thai is spoken in the provinces that were formerly part of the independent kingdom of Lanna. Karen languages are spoken along the border with Burma, Khmer near Cambodia (and previously throughout central Thailand), and Malay in the south near Malaysia. The Thai hill tribes speak numerous small languages. Also, there is a big population of Chinese descent people in Thailand and the old generation often use Teochew as their first language. The new generation tends to speak them as a second language or some may not know it at all,
• Kazakhstan: Kazakh and Russian both have official status—Kazakh as the "state" language and Russian as "officially used on equal grounds along with the Kazak language".^[121]
• Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyz is the state language and Russian "used in the capacity of an official language".^[122]
• United Arab Emirates: Arabic is the official language of the country, although English is an unofficial language it is widely accepted as the lingua franca as over 89% of the population is migrant. Almost everyone has a working knowledge of English. All road signs are written in both Arabic and English. English is the dominant in higher education and is a required ability for most local jobs. English is a compulsory subject in all public schools and is the language of instruction for mathematics and science.^[123]
• In Uzbekistan, Uzbek (official), Tajik, and Russian are all widely spoken. Use of Russian (alongside Uzbek) is foreseen for notarized documents and civic records^[124][125]
  • In the autonomous Karakalpakstan, Karakalpak language is an official one, alongside Uzbek.^[126]
• Vietnam: Vietnamese is the official language, and English is the most commonly used and studied second language, especially in education, international relations, and the media. In addition, French is spoken by a small minority of people and elders as it used to be the most common second language. The right to use own language, also in courts, is foreseen in the constitution.^[127]

Europe

• Albania has one official language, Albanian. Other languages such as Greek and Italian are heavily spoken without official recognition, yet are minority languages. Albania recognises 6 minorities languages; Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Romanian, Hungarian, Greek and Italian. Majority Albanians are polyglots, speaking more than 3 languages, which is due to the high amount of Albanian immigrants in Europe and elsewhere, as well as political, socio-cultural relations with their neighbours. Today, Albanians are considered one of the most linguistically diverse peoples in Europe. Italian is spoken by a large amount of Albanians that have learnt the language by watching Italian television. Influx of Greeks in the country due to the Euro Crisis is elevating the status of Greek in the country. Albania is also part of the Francophonie, with 320,000 French speakers.
• Andorra has one official language, Catalan. Other languages (mainly Spanish, Portuguese and French) are also spoken without official recognition.
• Austria has one official language, German. However it also has Croatian and Slovenian minorities, all of whose languages are protected under federal laws.^[128] Certain functions are also guaranteed for Romany, Hungarian, Czech and Slovakian in Vienna and Burgenland, under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.^[129]
• Belarus has two official languages: Belarusian and Russian.^[130]
• Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (59%) in the north, French (31%) in the south and a small minority speaks German. Its bilingual capital, Brussels (10%), is mainly French, with Dutch as minority. These languages have the status of 'official language' only in specified language areas as defined by the constitution.^[131] In Flanders, 59% and 53% of the Flemings know French or English respectively; in Wallonia, only 19% and 17% know Dutch or English. In each region, Belgium's third official language, German, is notably less known than Dutch, French or English.^[132] Wallonia recognises all of its vernacular dialect groups as regional languages, Flanders does not.
• Cyprus has 2 official languages: Greek & Turkish.^[133] Both languages were spoken throughout the island before 1974. After 1974, and the partition of the island, Turkish became the sole official language in the Turkish-Cypriot-controlled north whereas the - internationally recognized - Republic of Cyprus retains both languages as official. English is also widely spoken and understood throughout the island.
• In the Czech Republic, several municipalities of Zaolzie area have official bilingualism (Czech and Polish).^[129] Bilingual signs are permitted if a minority constitutes at least a 10% of the population of the municipality.
• Denmark has one official language, Danish, but in South Jutland, use of German for certain functions is provided for. In Greenland, Greelandic is the principal language, while Danish must be thoroughly taught.^[129]
• Estonia has one official language, Estonian, but there is also a sizeable Russian-speaking community (around 30% in 2000) who speak Russian. Russian and other minority languages can theoretically be used in communication with local government and state institutions within the borders of certain constituencies where most permanent residents belong to a respective national minority (Article 51 of the Constitution). Many Estonians can speak Russian, but many Russians are not fluent in Estonian including those who are Estonian citizens,^[134] however fluency varies considerably between age groups.
• Faroe Islands has two official languages: Faroese and Danish.^[135] The other Scandinavian languages, Norwegian and Swedish, are understood by most without much difficulty.^[136] English is taught in schools, often as a third language.
• Finland has two "national languages", Finnish and Swedish, and the minority languages Sami (Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami), Romani and Finnish Sign Language are recognized by the constitution.^[137] Swedish is spoken by a minority, about 5.5% native speakers (Swedes in Finland) concentrated along the coast and on the Åland Islands. Municipalities are bilingual if the Swedish or Finnish minority is at least 6–8%. Åland is monolingually Swedish by law. Sami is official language (besides Finnish) in the municipalities of northern Finland.
• France has a strict monolingual policy for the republic to conduct government business only in French. There are, however, levels of fluency in regional languages: Alsatian, Basque, Breton (the regional government of Britanny adopted some politics to promote teaching Breton^[138]), Catalan (the department of Pyrénées-Orientales has a particular charter for supporting Catalan^[139]), Corsican (teaching it in the island's schools is provided for by law)^[140]), Flemish, Franco-Provençal, and Occitan (sometimes called Provençal). The country as whole is dominated by French linguistically.
• Germany has German as its official national language. Low Saxon (“Low German”) is recognized as a regional language in at least five north German states. Lower Sorbian is an official minority language in Brandenburg, Upper Sorbian in Saxony, Sater Frisian in a part of Lower Saxony, and North Frisian varieties and Danish in Schleswig-Holstein. A language without its own territory, Romany (including the language of the Sinte people) is an official minority language as well.^[129] Germany is home to large numbers of people from other regions, and some of their languages, such as Turkish, Russian, and Polish, are widely used throughout the country. However, those languages are considered foreign and thus are given no official status.
• Gibraltar is a British overseas territory whose sole official language is English. Given Gibraltar's size, most of the population is also fluent in Spanish due to its vicinity with Spain. Gibraltarians also use Llanito as their local vernacular.
• Hungary, the official language is Hungarian. The country recognizes Beás, Croatian, German, Romani, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene languages.^[129] Use of those languages for certain functions is provided for by law, applying to localitites where the share of a relevant minority exceeds 10 % or, for wider functions, 20 %.^[141]
• Ireland, the first official language of Ireland is Irish, with the second being English.^[142] English is the first language of the majority of the population.
• Italy. The official language overall is Italian, while bilingualism is applied in some territories. In the province of South Tyrol German is co-official.^[143] In the Aosta Valley region French is co-official,^[144] as is Slovene in some municipalities of the provinces of Trieste and Gorizia. Ladin municipalities of South Tyrol are trilingual (Italian, Ladin, and German). Italian law n. 482/1999 recognizes and protects several other languages, like Sardinian, Friulian, Occitan, Greek, Albanian and other linguistic minorities.^[145]
• Kosovo has two official languages, Albanian and Serbian. Turkish, Bosnian, and Roma hold official status on a regional level.^[146]
• Latvia has one official language, Latvian. Liv language is recognized as an autochthonous (in the Livonian coast, it is allowed to form toponyms in Liv alongside Latvian); the others are defined as "foreign" in the Official Language Law,^[147] but there is also a sizeable minority with Russian as their native language - 37,3% of those answering the question on language used at home named Russian during the census (2011).^[148]
• Lithuania has a small Polish-speaking minority and a large number of fluent Russian speakers.
• Luxembourg is a rare example of a truly trilingual society, in that it not only has three official languages – Luxembourgish, French and German^[149] – but has a trilingual education system. For the first four years of school, Luxembourgish is the medium of instruction, before giving way to German, which in turn gives way to French. (In addition, children learn English and sometimes another European language, usually Spanish or Italian.) Similarly in the country's parliament, debates are conducted in Luxembourgish, draft legislation is drafted in German, while the statute laws are in French.
• Malta has two official languages, Maltese and English.^[150] Italian is also spoken by a large percentage of the population.
• Moldova
  • Gagauzia — Moldovan, Gagauz, Russian^[151]
  • Transnistria — Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian^[152]
• The Netherlands has four official languages. Dutch is the primary language, and Frisian is recognized as a minority language^[129] and spoken by between 300,000 and 700,000 people. Frisian is mostly spoken in the province of Fryslân, where it is the official first language. Low Saxon is recognized as a regional language in the northeast of the country, and Limburgish is an official regional language in Netherlands Limburg.^[129] In Amsterdam, certain services are provided in English; English is official in the Dutch municipalities of Saba and Sint Eustatius. The fourth official language is Papiamento, spoken on Bonaire.^[153]
• Poland — 20 bilingual communes in Poland (mostly Polish-German) speak forms of the German language. Belorussian, Czech, Hebrew, Yiddish, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak and Ukrainian are recognised as national minorities languages while Karaim, Lemko, Romani and Tatar as ethnic minorities languages.^[129][154]
• Portugal – although Portuguese is practically universal, Mirandese, a related Leonese language, is spoken in Miranda do Douro, northeastern Portugal and is officially recognized (see: Languages of Portugal), and there is some familiarity with the Spanish language in border towns with neighboring Spain.
• In Romania, the official language is Romanian, but significant minority languages are recognized on the local level, with commitments made in respect of use of Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, German, Hungarian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Turkish and Ukrainian in areas where the share of their speakers is at least 20%.^[129] The biggest ethnic minority is the Hungarian community of 1.4 million (6.6%).
• ex-Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries: Many people fluently speak Russian, especially in Slavic countries within the area of the former USSR (typically in Belarus and Ukraine), along with Moldova, which has a Slavic minority. However, few Polish, Slovak or Czech people speak Russian, despite huge expenditures in the past.
• Republics of Russia:
  • Adygea — Russian and Adygean are both official languages^[155]
  • Bashkortostan — Bashkir and Russian are co-official^[156]
  • Ingushetia — Russian and Ingush are co-official^[157]
  • Kabardino-Balkaria - Russian, Kabardian, Balkar are co-official^[158]
  • Tatarstan — Russian and Tatar are co-official^[159]
  • Kalmykia — Russian and Kalmyk are co-official^[160]
  • Karachay-Cherkessia — Russian (also as a language of interethnic communication), Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Nogai are all official^[161]
  • Mari El — Russian and Mari are co-official^[162]
  • Mordovia — Russian and Mordvin are co-official^[163]
  • Komi Republic — Russian and Komi are co-official^[164]
  • North Ossetia–Alania — Russian and Ossetian are co-official^[165]
  • Udmurtia — Russian and Udmurt are co-official^[166]
  • Chechen Republic — Russian and Chechen are co-official^[167]
  • Chuvashia — Russian and Chuvash are co-official^[168]
• Abkhazia. According to Georgian law, Georgian and Abkhazian are co-official;^[169] according to Abkhazian law — Abkhazian and Russian.^[170] The elder generation of Abkhazis spoke Georgian, Russian and Abkhazi.
• Serbia: There are seven officially used languages in Vojvodina (Serbian, Croatian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak and Czech), and four in central Serbia (Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Bulgarian).^[171] The northern autonomous province of Vojvodina has a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual identity, with a number of mechanisms for the promotion of minority rights; there are more than 26 ethnic groups in the province. The province has six official languages. Some Serbs are recognised as fluent polyglot, many of them being able to speak German, French and English, due to the huge amount of Serbian immigrants in Europe, especially in Austria, Germany and France, whilst English is quite popular due to the large Serbian immigrant community in Australia and Canada.
• Slovakia has a Hungarian minority of 520,000 (9.7%). Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, German, Serbian, Hungarian, Polish, Roma, Russian, Ruthenian and Ukrainian languages are recognized as regional or minority languages, with guarantees of their use in municipalities where Slovak citizens belonging to the national minorities form at least 20% of the population.^[129]
• Slovenia. Italian and Hungarian are recognized as regional or minority languages.^[129][172] In the coastal area (Koper, Izola and Piran) Italian is also an official language, in addition to Slovene. In the eastern part of Prekmurje, Hungarian is used as an official language next to Slovene. In the bilingual areas, all children are taught both languages.
• Spain, where several autonomous communities have their own official language, additional to Spanish (also known as Castilian), official all over Spain (see: languages of Spain):
  • Basque Country^[173] and Navarre:^[174] Basque, a language isolate.
  • Balearic Islands^[175] and Valencian Community:^[176] Catalan (officially called Valencian in Valencia).
  • Catalonia: Catalan and Aranese (Occitan).^[177]
  • Galicia: Galician,^[178] sometimes considered as a variant of Portuguese.
  • There are a number of languages which have official recognition of some kind but which are not fully official:
    • Aragonese and Catalan in certain areas of Aragon.^[179]
    • Asturian and, in some areas, Galician in Asturias.^[180]
    • Leonese and, to a smaller degree, Galician in Castile and León.^[181]
• Sweden has Swedish as its official language. Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani, Sami and Yiddish are recognized as minority languages.^[129] Meänkieli, a variant of Finnish, is spoken in Tornedalen and Haparanda in North Bothnia. Meänkieli, Finnish and Sami have a special status in the areas were speakers are significant minorities.
• Switzerland has four national languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh.^[182] The cantons Valais, Fribourg and Bern are bilingual (French and German), while canton Graubünden is trilingual (German, Romansh and Italian).
• In most countries of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are understood by all three groups (see Serbo-Croatian) - and smaller languages in the other republics of Slovenia (Slovenian), Macedonia (Macedonian) and (Montenegro) Montenegrin. Other languages have co-official status in some parts of these countries (e.g. Italian in Istria, Hungarian in Vojvodina).
• In Ukraine, Russian, Hungarian and Romanian are granted status of a regional language in certain areas (Language policy in Ukraine). Carpathian Ruthenia, Ukraine, Slovaks living near Uzhhorod speak Ukrainian and Hungarian in addition to their mother tongue, Slovakian. In villages near Mukachevo Germans (Swabian dialect speakers) also speak Hungarian and Ukrainian.
• The only national language of the United Kingdom is English, however there are several regional languages recognised:
  • Wales: 611,000 Welsh speakers, including the majority of the population in parts of north and west Wales.^[183] English is widely used. Across Wales, both English and Welsh have equal official status; the priority given to each, for instance on road signs, is determined by each local authority.^[184]
    Further information: Languages of Wales
  • Ulster Scots, a variety of Scots, is spoken by some in Northern Ireland, but again English is far more commonly used and Ulster Scots is less actively used in media. Irish and Ulster Scots now both have official status in Northern Ireland as part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement;^[185] certain functions are granted to those two languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.^[129]
  • Scotland: 58,652 Gaelic speakers, mostly concentrated in the Highlands and the Hebrides, the traditional heartland of Gaelic culture. The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 provides for the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language.^[186] Also Scots with approximately 2 to 3 million speakers — a Germanic language closely related to English.
  • Cornwall: After two centuries of extinction, Cornish was revived in the region in the early 20th century.

Oceania

• Fiji — Fijian and English (both official)^[187]
• Kiribati — Kiribati and English (official); Kiribati is the majority language,^[188] English language is the prevailing language for constitutional text^[189]
• Marshall Islands — Marshalese and English (both official)^[190]
• New Caledonia — French and Kanak languages^[191]
• New Zealand — a small percentage of the population has some reasonable degree of bilingualism in English and Māori, mostly among the Māori themselves; few are fully fluent in Māori. New Zealand Sign Language has also an official status. English is the main language, with over 96% of the population speaking it fluently. Maori has been recognized as official since 1987.^[192]
• Palau — Palauan traditional languages are the national languages. Palauan and English are the official languages.^[193]
• Papua New Guinea — Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 836 indigenous languages spoken^[194]
• Rapa Nui (Easter Island) — Rapa Nui along with Chilean Spanish are the 2 co-official languages of the island.
• Samoa — Samoan and English^[195]
• Tonga — Tongan and English (both official)^[196]
• Tuvalu — Tuvaluan and English (both official)^[197]
• Vanuatu — the national language is Bislama, a creole language or pidgin English, which is also an official language alongside English and French.^[198] There are also over 110 local vernacular languages distinct to this island archipelago.

Notes

1. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has received recognition as an independent state from 110 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References