Zane Education

References
- Regional Maps
- Flags of the World
- Gallery of Covers
- Definitions and Notes
- Guide to Country Profiles
- Guide to Country Comparisons
Appendices

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


Akrotiri	English, Greek


Albania	Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects


Algeria	Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects


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


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) 36.7%, Russian (official) 62.8%, other 0.5% (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% (2005 Census)


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


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) 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 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)


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)


Cape Verde	Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)


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 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 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), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)


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	Amarigna (Amharic) (official) 32.7%, Oromigna (official regional) 31.6%, Tigrigna (official regional) 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (official) (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (official) (1994 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 - over 19% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language - about 49% of the EU population is conversant with it (2007)


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) 90.8%, English (official) 2.8%, Putonghua (Mandarin) 0.9%, other Chinese dialects 4.4%, other 1.1% (2006 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% (2008 est.)


Iraq	Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Turkoman (a Turkish dialect), Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic), 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 note: all are widely understood in the major cities


Liechtenstein	German (official), Alemannic dialect


Lithuania	Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)


Luxembourg	Luxembourgish (national language), German (administrative language), French (administrative language)


Macau	Cantonese 85.7%, Hokkien 4%, Mandarin 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 2.7%, English 1.5%, Tagalog 1.3%, other 1.6% note: Chinese and Portuguese are the official language (2001 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 80%, numerous African languages


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%, Turkic, Russian (1999)


Montenegro	Serbian 63.6%, Montenegrin (official) 22%, Bosnian 5.5%, Albanian 5.3%, unspecified 3.7% (2003 census)


Montserrat	English


Morocco	Arabic (official), Berber dialects, 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% (2007 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 22.4%, English 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 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 860 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world's total) 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 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, 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


Sri Lanka	Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population


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)


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)


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: 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) 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: 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


Yemen	Arabic (official)


Zambia	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

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