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Countries and languages

This is a listing of countries and predominant languages in the world, which we trust will be of use to you.

Formula

A simple formula has been applied to classify these languages: No country with a population of less than one million people has been listed. All languages spoken by 10% + of the population or 5 million people (whichever is lower) are listed - but up to a maximum of 10 languages per country.

Official Languages (OL)

All languages shown as 'Official languages' may be being used in the education system, judiciary and legislature, but may not necessarily be spoken by people in their daily lives.

Classification

The classification of languages is not an exact science - mainly due to problems defining the difference between 'languages' and 'dialects', and how to account for bilingual speakers. Therefore this list is intended as a rough guide only.

Compilers Note / Disclaimer

In the compilation and selection of this listing readers should understand that no political, cultural or racial views are intended, and should not be interpreted from the data. Sources referred to: Ethnologue, SIL: 2000; Operation World: 2000.

Country Pop Major Languages Mill. OL = Official Language

Afghanistan22.7PASHTO, SOUTHERN (11.4 mill. OL) DARI [FARSI, EASTERN] (8 mill. OL).
Albania3.1ALBANIAN (2.9 mill. OL).
Algeria31.5ARABIC (24.3 mill. OL).
Angola12.9UMBUNDU (5 mill.) MBUNDU, LOANDA (2.9 mill.) KONGO (1.9 mill.). OL: Portuguese.
Argentina37.0SPANISH (33 mill. OL).
Armenia3.5ARMENIAN (3.4 mill. OL).
Australia18.9ENGLISH (15.3 mill. OL).
Austria8.2GERMAN (7.6 mill. OL).
Azerbaijan7.7AZERBAIJANI (6.8 mill. OL).
Bangladesh129.2BENGALI (104 mill. OL) CHITTAGONIAN (14 mill.) SYLHETTI (7 mill.).
Belarus10.2BELORUSSIAN (6.7 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (3.3 mill. OL).Russian is, in reality, the more dominant lang.
Belgium10.2FLEMISH (5.6 mill. OL) FRENCH (3.4 mill. OL). Other OL: German.
Benin6.1FON (1.75 mill.).OL: French.
Bhutan2.1KEBUMTAMP (310,000) NEPALI (300,000) DZONGKHA (260,000 - OL) SHARCHAGPAKHA (243,000).
Bolivia8.3SPANISH (3 mill. OL) QUECHA (3.1 mill. OL) AYMARA (2 mill. OL)
Bosnia-Herzegovina4.0BOSNIAN (OL) CROATIAN SERBIAN (statistics not available) ROMANI, VLAX (400,000).
Botswana1.6TSWANA [SETSWANA] (1.1 mill.) KALANGA (240,000). OL: English (also Tswana for some purposes).
Brazil170.1PORTUGUESE (158 mill. OL).
Bulgaria8.2 BULGARIAN (6.8 mill. OL) TURKISH (900,000 - OL).
Burkina Faso11.9MOORE (5.3 mill.). OL: French.
Burundi6.7KIRUNDI [RUNDI] (6.5 mill. OL). Other OL: French.
Cambodia11.2KHMER [CAMBODIAN] (9.3 mill. OL).
Cameroon15.1279 small local langs - no dominant local lang. OL: French.
Canada31.1ENGLISH (17 mill. OL) FRENCH (6.7 mill. OL).
Central African Republic3.6GBAYA (857,000) BANDA (846,000 - 9 related langs) MANZA (531,000). OLs: French and Sango. (Sango used mainly as a second-lang. by 90% of the pop.)
Chad7.7ARABIC (4.6 mill. OL - mostly second-lang. speakers) Other OL: French.
Chile15.2SPANISH (14 mill. OL).
China (incl. Hong Kong)1,269.6CHINESE, MANDARIN (867 mill. - total including second lang. speakers is 1,050 mill. OL) CHINESE WU (82 mill.), CHINESE, YUE [CANTONESE](59 mill.) CHINESE, JINYU (53 mill.) CHINESE, GAN (37 mill.) CHINESE, XIANG (36 mill.) CHINESE, MIN NAN (32 mill.) CHINESE, HAKKA (31 mill.) CHINESE, MIN BEI (10 mill.). UYGGHUR (7 mill.)
Colombia42.3SPANISH (41.7 mill. OL)
Congo (Brazzaville) 2.9MUNUKUTUBA (1.7 mill.) LINGALA (300,000) OL: French.
Costa Rica4.0SPANISH (3.8 mill. OL)
Côte d'Ivoire14.8BAOULE (2.93 mill.). OL: French.
Croatia4.5CROATIAN (3.9 mill. OL)
Cuba11.2SPANISH (11.1 mill. OL)
Czech Republic10.2CZECH (9.5 mill. OL)
Democratic Rep. of Congo51.7LINGALA / BANGALA (7 mill. - mainly second lang. speakers) TSHILUBA [LUBA-KASAI] (8 mill.) KONGO / KITUBA (7.9 mill. incl. second lang. speakers). OLs: French & English.
Denmark5.3DANISH (5.2 mill. OL)
Dominican Republic8.5SPANISH (7.2 mill. OL) HAITIAN CREOLE FRENCH (1.2 mill.)
Ecuador12.6SPANISH (10.8 mill. OL) QUICHA, CHIMBORAZO (1.34 mill.)
Egypt68.5ARABIC (67 mill. OL)
El Salvador6.3SPANISH (6.2 mill. OL)
Eritrea3.9TIGRINYA (1.8 mill.) TIGRE (1.2 mill.). No OL (Arabic & English widely used).
Estonia1.4ESTONIAN (900,000 OL) RUSSIAN (400,000)
Ethiopia62.6OROMO (18.2 mill. - total of three related 'Oromo' langs)
Finland5.2FINNISH (4.8 mill. OL) Other OL: Swedish.
France59.1FRENCH (51 mill. OL)
Gabon1.2FANG (350,000). OL: French.
Gambia1.3MANDINKA (445,000) PULAAR (230,000) WOLOF (164,000) OL: English.
Georgia5.0GEORGIAN (3 mill. OL) MINGRELIAN (500,000)
Germany82.2GERMAN (75 mill. OL)
Ghana20.2AKAN (9.7 mill. - includes these dialects: Asante-Twi Akuapem-Twi Fante) EWE (2.3 mill.) OL: English.
Greece10.6GREEK (9.6 mill. OL)
Guatemala11.4SPANISH (4.9 mill. OL)
Guinea7.4FULBE (2.8 mill.) MANDE (2 mill.) SUSU (905,500) OL: French.
Guinea-Bissau1.2BALANTA (300,000) PULAAR (220,000) MANDINKA (167,000) CRIOULO, UPPER GUINEA (160,0000) OL: Portuguese.
Haiti8.2HAITIAN CREOLE FRENCH (7.8 mill.). Official lang: French.
Honduras6.5SPANISH (5.9 mill. OL)
Hungary10.0HUNGARIAN (9.8 mill. OL)
India1,013.7HINDI (408 mill. OL) BENGALI (84 mill.) TELUGU (80 mill.) MARATHI (76 mill.) TAMIL (64 mill.) URDU (53 mill.) GUJARATI (49 mill.) KANNADA (40 mill.) MALAYALAM (36 mill.) ORIYA (34 mill.). Other OL (alongside Hindi): English.
Indonesia213.0JAVANESE (90 mill.) SUNDA (35 mill.) INDONESIAN (17 to 30 mill. plus 140 mill. second-lang. speakers - OL) MADURA (15 mill.) MALAY (10 mill.) MINANGKABAU (7.5 mill.).
Iran67.7FARSI (30 mill. OL) AZERI [AZERBAIJANI, SOUTH] (11.2 mill.) KURDISH-SORANI (5 mill.)
Iraq23.1ARABIC (up to 17.8 mill. OL) KURDISH-SORANI (up to 2.8 mill. with Kurdish-Kurmanji in the Kurdish Autonomous Region).
Ireland3.7ENGLISH (3.5 mill. OL) Other OL: Irish Gaelic (used as a first or second lang. by 13% of the population)
Israel5.1HEBREW (4.1 mill. - including second-lang. speakers. OL) ARABIC (800,000 - OL) RUSSIAN (750,000)
Italy57.3ITALIAN (53.6 mill. including bilinguals - OL) LOMBARD (9 mill. - most bilingual with Italian) NEPOLETANO-CALABRESE (7.7 mill. - most bilingual with Italian)
Jamaica2.6JAMAICAN CREOLE ENGLISH (2.74 mill.). OL: English.
Japan 126.7JAPANESE (125 mill. OL)
Jordan6.7ARABIC (6.5 mill. OL)
Kazakhstan16.2KAZAKH (8.7 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (4.9 mill.)
Kenya30.1KIKUYU [GIKUYU] (6.8 mill. OL) SWAHILI [KISWAHILI] (4 mill. - mostly second-lang. speakers. OL) Other OL: English.
Korea, North24.0KOREAN (23.9 mill. OL).
Korea, South46.8KOREAN (46.7 mill. OL).
Kuwait2.0ARABIC (1.4 mill. OL).
Kyrgyzstan4.7KIRGYZ (3.6 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (660,000).
Laos5.4LAO (2.3 mill. OL) KHMU (628,000).
Latvia2.4LATVIAN (1.3 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (720,000).
Lebanon3.3ARABIC (3 mill. OL) Other OL: French.
Lesotho2.2SOTHO, SOUTHERN (1.8 mill. OL) ZULU (300,000). Other OL: English.
Liberia3.2LIBERIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH (1.5 mill. second-lang. speakers).
Libya5.6ARABIC (3.8 mill. OL).
Lithuania3.7LITHUANIAN (3 mill. OL).
Macedonia2.0MACEDONIAN (1.15 mill. OL) ALBANIAN (460,000).
Madagascar15.9MALAGASY (15.7 mill. OL) Other OL: French.
Malawi10.9NYANJA [CHICHEWA] (7 mill. OL) Other OL: English.
Malaysia22.2MALAY (11 mill. OL) Mali 11.2 BAMBARA (3.7 mill.) FULANI (1.3 mill.) OL: French.
Mauritania2.7ARABIC, HASSANIYA (1.9 mill. OL) PULAAR (400,000).
Mauritius1.2MORISYEN [MAURITIUS CREOLE FRENCH] (600,000) BHOJPURI (340,000). OL: English (but French widely spoken as a second lang.).
Mexico98.9SPANISH (90 mill. OL).
Moldova4.4ROMANIAN (2.7 mill. OL) UKRAINIAN (613,000) RUSSIAN (569,000).
Mongolia2.7MONGOLIAN, HALH (2.4 mill. OL).
Morocco28.2ARABIC (18.3 mill. OL).
Mozambique19.7MAKHUWA (6.8 mill.) LOMWE (2 mill.) TSONGA (1.9 mill.) OL: Portuguese.
Myanmar45.6BURMESE (26.2 mill. OL).
Namibia1.7OWAMBO (870,000) NAMA (215,000) AFRIKAANS (180,000).
Nepal23.9NEPALI (12 mill. OL) MAITHILI (2.85 mill.).
Netherlands15.8DUTCH (13.8 mill. OL).
New Zealand3.9ENGLISH (3.5 mill. OL) Other OL: Maori.
Nicaragua5.1SPANISH (4.4 mill. OL).
Niger10.7HAUSA (5 mill.) ZARMA (1.6 mill.).OL: French.
Nigeria111.5HAUSA (23 mill.) YORUBA (20.3 mill.) IGBO (19.9 mill.) OL: ENGLISH
Norway4.5NORWEGIAN (4.2 mill. OL).
Oman2.5ARABIC (1.7 mill. OL).
Pakistan156.5PANJABI, WESTERN (30 to 45 mill.) PANJABI, SOUTHERN [SARAIKI] (15 to 30 mill.) SINDHI (17 mill.) URDU (11 mill. OL) PASHTO, NORTHERN (10 mill.)
Palestinian W. Bank & Gaza3.4ARABIC (3.1 mill. OL).
Panama2.9SPANISH (2.3 mill. OL).
Papua New Guinea4.8TOK PISIN (at least 2 mill. - mostly second-lang. spkers).
Paraguay5.5GUARANI (5.2 mill. OL) Other OL: Spanish.
Peru25.7SPANISH (20.6 mill. OL) Other OL: Cuzco Quecha.
Philippines76.0TAGALOG [FILIPINO] (22.3 mill. OL) CEBUANO (17.7 mill.) ILOCANO (7.1 mill.) HILIGAYNON (6.9 mill.).
Poland38.8POLISH (37.7 mill. OL).
Portugal9.9PORTUGUESE (9.6 mill. OL).
Puerto Rico3.9SPANISH (3.8 mill. OL) Other OL: English.
Romania22.3ROMANIAN (19 mill. OL)
Russia146.9RUSSIAN (121 mill. OL) TATAR (6 mill.)
Rwanda7.7KINYARWANDA (7.6 mill. OL) Other OLs: French and English.
Saudi Arabia21.6ARABIC (21.6 mill. OL).
Senegal9.5WOLOF (4.2 mill.) PULAAR (2.3 mill.) SERER-SINE (1.2 mill.). OL: French.
Sierra Leone4.9THEMNE (1.46 mill.) MENDE (1.4 mill.) KRIO (490,000 - although spoken as a second-lang. by a further 3.9 mill. people). OL: English.
Singapore3.6CHINESE, MIN NAN (1.53 mill.) MALAY (500,000 - one of the OLs) CHINESE, YUE [CANTONESE] (420,000) Other OLs: Mandarin Chinese, English and Tamil [English is the primary lang. for education].
Slovakia5.4SLOVAK (4.3 mill. OL) HUNGARIAN (571,000)
Slovenia2.0SLOVENIAN (1.8 mill. OL) Other OLs: Hungarian, Italian.
Somalia10.1SOMALI (7 mill. est. OL) MAAY (up to 1.5 mill.). Other OL: Arabic.
South Africa40.4ZULU (9.1 mill.) XHOSA (7.1 mill.) SOTHO (6.8 mill. - total of two related 'Sotho' langs.) National langs: 11 - all the major ethnic langs. English and Afrikaans are the main lang.s in higher education.
Spain39.8SPANISH (29 mill. OL) CATALAN (6.7 mill.) (in their respective autonomous regions).
Sri Lanka18.8SINHALESE (14 mill. OL) TAMIL (3.2 mill. OL) Other OL: English.
Sudan29.5ARABIC (13.3 mill. OL)
Swaziland1.0SWATI [SISWATI] (900,000 - OL). Other OL: English.
Sweden8.9SWEDISH (7.9 mill. OL)
Switzerland7.4ALEMANNISCH [related to GERMAN] (4.7 mill.) FRENCH (1.4 mill. OL) Other OLs: German, Italian and Romansch.
Syria16.1ARABIC (14.8 mill. OL)
Taiwan22.4CHINESE, MIN NAN (15 mill.) CHINESE, MANDARIN (4.6 mill. OL) CHINESE, HAKKA (2.2 mill.)
Tajikistan6.2TADZHIK [TAJIK] (4.1 mill. OL) UZBEK (1.55 mill.)
Tanzania33.5 SWAHILI [KISWAHILI] (31 mill., most of whom are bi-lingual in their local lang. OL) SUKUMA (3.2 mill.). Other OL: English.
Thailand61.4THAI (56 mill. OL)
Togo4.6EWE (1 mill.) KABRE (730,000) WACHI (570,000). OL: French.
Trinidad and Tobago1.3ENGLISH (OL - no of speakers unknown).
Tunisia9.6ARABIC (9.4 mill. OL)
Turkey66.6TURKISH (up to 53 mill.) KURDISH, KURMANJI (5 to 9 mill.)
Turkmenistan4.5TURKMEN (3.5 mill. OL)
Uganda21.8LUGANDA (3.5 mill.). OL: English.
Ukraine50.5UKRAINIAN (34.5 mill. OL - many bilingual with Russian.) RUSSIAN (13.2 mill.)
United Arab Emirates2.4ARABIC (930,000 OL) MALAYALAM (300,000 - ex-pats.)
United Kingdom58.8ENGLISH (55 mill. OL) Other OL: Welsh (in Wales only)
Uruguay3.3SPANISH (3.1 mill. OL)
USA278.4ENGLISH (230 mill. OL) SPANISH (34 mill.).
Uzbekistan24.3UZBEK, NORTHERN (18.5 mill. OL)
Venezuela24.2SPANISH (21.5 mill. OL)
Viet Nam79.8VIETNAMESE (69 mill. OL)
Yemen18.1ARABIC (17.2 mill. OL)
Yugoslavia10.6SERBIAN (10 mill. est. OL) ALBANIAN (up to 1.8 mill. - mainly in Kosovo).
Zambia9.2BEMBA (2.3 mill.) NYANJA [CHICHEWA] (1.1 mill.) TONGA (1.1 mill.). OL: English.
Zimbabwe11.7SHONA (8.2 mill.) NDEBELE (1.6 mill.) OL:English.

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