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List of official languages facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

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

Official languages of sovereign countries, wholly or partly

A

Abkhaz:

  • Abkhazia (with Russian; independence is disputed)

Afar:

Afrikaans:

Aja-Gbe:

  • Benin (a national language along with Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official language is French)

Akan (Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi, Fante):

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)

Albanian:

Amharic:

Anii:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

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

Armenian:

Assamese:

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

Aymara:

Azerbaijani:

B

Balanta:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Bambara:

  • see Manding
  • Mali (a national language along with Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)

Bariba:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Basque:

Bassari:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Bedik:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Belarusian:

Bengali:

Berber:

Biali:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Bislama:

Boko:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Bomu:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)

Bosnian:

Bozo:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)

Buduma:

Bulgarian:

Burmese:

C

Cantonese:

Catalan:

Chinese, Mandarin:

Chichewa:

Chirbawe (Sena):

Comorian

Corsican :

Croatian:

Czech:

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

D

Dagaare:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagbani, Dangme, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)

Dagbani:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dangme, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)

Dangme

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dagbani, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)

Danish:

Dari:

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

Dendi:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Dhivehi:

Dioula:

Dogon:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)

Dutch:

sole official language in:
co-official language in:

Dzongkha:

E

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

Estonian:

Ewe-Gbe:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme Ga, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)
  • Togo (with French and Kabye)

F

Faroese:

Fijian:

Filipino:

Finnish:

Fon-Gbe:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Foodo:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Formosan:

  • Taiwan (other national languages of Taiwan are Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka and Taiwan Sign Language.)

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

sole official language in:
  • Wallonia (except for the Canton of Eupen and the Canton of Sankt Vith, where German is the official language)
co-official language in:
Official language in:

Fula:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)
  • Burkina Faso (a national language along with Dioula, Mossi and other languages, the official language is French)
  • Guinea (a national language along with Kissi, Kpelle, Malinke, Susu, Toma, Oniyan, Wamey, the official language is French)
  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)
  • Mauritania (a national language along with Soninke, Wolof, the official language is Arabic)
  • Niger (with French, Arabic, Buduma, Gourmanché, Hausa, Kanuri, Songhay-Zarma, Tamasheq, Tasawaq, Tebu)
  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

G

Ga:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Gonja, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)

Gàidhlig:

Gbe:

Gen-Gbe:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Georgian:

German:

sole official language in:
  • Canton of Eupen
  • Canton of Sankt Vith
Official language in 21 cantons:

Gonja:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ga, Kasem, Nzema, the official language is English)

Gourmanché

Greek:

Guaraní:

Gujarati:

  • India

H

Haitian Creole:

Hakka:

  • Taiwan (other national languages of Taiwan are Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Formosan languages and Taiwan Sign Language.)

Hassaniya:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Hausa:

Hebrew:

Hindi:

Hiri Motu:

Hungarian:

I

Igbo:

Icelandic:

Indonesian:

  • Indonesia (a standardized dialect of Malay)

Irish:

Italian:

Official language in:

J

Japanese:

  • Japan (de facto)
  • Palau (Angaur)

Javanese:

  • native to Java; Indonesia

Jola:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

K

Kabye:

Kalanga:

Kannada:

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

Kanuri:

Kasem:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ga, Gonja, Nzema, the official language is English)

Kazakh:

Khmer:

Kinyarwanda:

Kirundi:

Kissi

  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kpelle, Malinke, Susu, Toma, Oniyan, Wamey, the official language is French)

"Koisan" (Tshuwau):

Korean:

Korean Sign Language:

Kpelle:

  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kissi, Malinke, Susu, Toma, Oniyan, Wamey, the official language is French)

Kurdish:

Kyrgyz:

L

Lao:

Latin:

Latvian:

Lithuanian:

Lukpa:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Luxembourgish:

M

Macedonian:

Malagasy:

Malay:

Malinke:

  • see Manding
  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kissi, Kpelle, Susu, Toma, Oniyan, Wamey, the official language is French)

Maltese:

Mamara:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)

Manding (Mandinka, Malinke):

Mandinka:

  • see Manding
  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Mandjak:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Mankanya:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Manx Gaelic:

Māori:

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

Marshallese:

Mauritian Creole

Mbelime:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Meitei (officially known as Manipuri)

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

Mongolian:

Montenegrin:

Mossi:

  • Burkina Faso (a national language along with Dioula, Fula and other languages, the official language is French)

N

Nambya:

Nateni:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Nauruan

Ndau:

Ndebele (Northern):

Ndebele (Southern):

Nepali:

New Zealand Sign Language:

  • New Zealand (with English and Māori)

Noon:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Safen, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Northern Sotho:

Norwegian:

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

Nzema:

  • Ghana (a government-sponsored language along with Akan (Akuapem Twi, Ashante Twi, Fante), Ewe-Gbe, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme, Ga, Gonja, Kasem, the official language is English)

O

Oniyan:

  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kissi, Kpelle, Malinke, Susu, Toma, Wamey, the official language is French)

Oriya

Oromo:

Ossetian:

  • South Ossetia (with Russian and Georgian; independence is disputed)

P

Palauan:

Papiamento:

Pashto:

Persian:

Polish:

Portuguese:

Punjabi:

Q

Quechua:

R

Romanian:

Romansh:

Russian:

  • Russia (in some regions together with regional languages)
  • Abkhazia (with Abkhaz according to the Abkhazian constitution; independence is disputed)
  • Belarus (with Belarusian)
  • Kazakhstan (with Kazakh)
  • Kyrgyzstan (with Kyrgyz)
  • South Ossetia (with Ossetian and Georgian; independence is disputed)
  • Tajikistan ("inter-ethnic communication"; with Tajik)
  • Transnistria (with Moldovan and Ukrainian; independence is disputed)

S

Safen:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Serer, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Samoa

Sango

Sena:

Scots

Serbian:

Serer:

  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Soninke, Wolof, the official language is French)

Seychellois Creole

Shona:

Sinhala:

Slovak:

Slovene:

Somali:

Songhay-Zarma:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Soninke, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)
  • Niger (with French, Arabic, Buduma, Fula, Gourmanché, Hausa, Kanuri, Tamasheq, Tasawaq, Tebu)

Soninke:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Syenara, Tamasheq, the official language is French)
  • Mauritania (a national language along with Fula, Wolof, the official language is Arabic)
  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Wolof, the official language is French)

Sotho:

South African Sign Language

Spanish:

Susu:

  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kissi, Kpelle, Malinke, Toma, Oniyan, Wamey, the official language is French)

Swahili:

  • Kenya (with English)
  • Rwanda (with English, French and Kinyarwanda)
  • Tanzania (de facto; with English)
  • Uganda (since 2005; with English)

Swati:

Swedish:

Syenara:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Tamasheq, the official language is French)

T

Taiwan Sign Language:

  • Taiwan (other national languages of Taiwan are Mandarin, Formosan languages, Hakka and Taiwanese Hokkien.)

Taiwanese Hokkien:

  • Taiwan (using Traditional Chinese characters and/or pe̍h-oē-jī (Latin letters); other national languages of Taiwan are Mandarin, Formosan languages, Hakka and Taiwan Sign Language.)

Tajik:

  • Tajikistan (a variant of Persian written in Cyrillic)

Tagalog:

Tamasheq:

  • Mali (a national language along with Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Mamara, Songhay, Soninke, Syenara, the official language is French)
  • Niger (with French, Arabic, Buduma, Fula, Gourmanché, Hausa, Kanuri, Songhay-Zarma, Tasawaq, Tebu)

Tamil:

Tammari:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Tasawaq:

Tebu:

Telugu:

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

Tetum:

Thai:

Tigrinya:

Tok Pisin:

Toma:

  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kissi, Kpelle, Malinke, Susu, Oniyan, Wamey, the official language is French)

Tonga:

Tongan

Tsonga:

Tswana:

Turkish:

  • Turkey
  • Cyprus (with Greek)
  • Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (independence disputed)

Turkmen:

Tuvaluan

U

Ukrainian:

Urdu:

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

Uzbek:

V

Venda:

Vietnamese:

W

Waama:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Waci-Gbe:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Yobe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Wamey:

  • Guinea (a national language along with Fula, Kissi, Kpelle, Malinke, Susu, Toma, Oniyan, the official language is French)

Welsh:

Wolof:

  • Mauritania (a national language along with Fula, Soninke, the official language is Arabic)
  • Senegal (a national language along with Balanta, Bassari, Bedik, Fula, Hassaniya, Jola, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon, Safen, Serer, Soninke, the official language is French)

X

Xhosa:

Xwela-Gbe:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Yom, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Y

Yobe:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yom, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Yom:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Xwela-Gbe, Yoruba, the official languages is French)

Yoruba:

  • Benin (a national language along with Aja-Gbe, Anii, Bariba, Biali, Boko, Dendi, Fon-Gbe, Foodo, Fula, Gen-Gbe, Lukpa, Mbelime, Nateni, Tammari, Waama, Waci-Gbe, Yobe, Xwela-Gbe, Yom, the official languages is French)
  • Nigeria (with English, Hausa and Igbo)

Z

Zimbabwean sign language:

Zulu:

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

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

Language Number of countries language spoken
English 101
French 60
Arabic 51
Standard Chinese 33
Spanish 31
Persian 29
German 18
Russian 16
Malay 13
Portuguese 12

Official regional and minority languages

Abaza:

  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Cherkess, Karachay, Nogai and Russian)

Adyghe:

  • Adygea (state language; with Russian)

Aghul:

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

Aklanon:

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

Albanian:

Altay:

  • Altay, Republic of (state language; with Russian)

Arabic:

Aranese see Occitan

Armenian:

  • Nagorno Karabagh

Assamese:

Avar:

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

Azeri:

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

Balkar:

  • Kabardino-Balkaria (state language; with Kabardian and Russian)

Bashkir:

Basque:

Bengali:

Bikol:

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

Bosnian:

Buryat:

  • Buryatia (state language; with Russian)
  • Zabaykalsky Krai
    • Agin-Buryat Okrug (authorized language)

Cantonese Chinese:

  • China:
    • Some provinces Canton Province (with Mandarin)
    • Hong Kong (for Chinese language, Cantonese is spoken de facto; co-official with English)
    • Macau (for Chinese language, Cantonese is spoken de facto; co-official with Portuguese)

Catalan:

Cebuano:

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

Chavacano:

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

Chechen:

  • Chechnya (state language; with Russian)
  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Cherkess:

  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Karachay, Nogai and Russian)

Cherokee:

Chipewyan:

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

Chukchi:

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

Chuvash:

  • Chuvashia (state language; with Russian)

Cree:

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

Crimean Tatar

  • Crimea (with Russian and Ukrainian)

Croatian:

Dargwa:

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

Dolgan:

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

Dutch:

English:

  • parts of Canada:
  • The United Kingdom:

Erzya:

  • Mordovia (state language; with Moksha and Russian)

Even:

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

Evenki:

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

Faroese:

Finnish:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Karelian and Veps)

French:

  • parts of Canada

Frisian (West):

Friulian:

  • The Friuli region of northeastern Italy

Gagauz:

Galician:

  • part of Spain

German:

Greek:

Guaraní:

Gujarati:

Gwich'in:

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

Hawaiian:

Hiligaynon:

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

Hindi:

Hungarian:

Ibanag:

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

Ilocano:

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

Ingush:

  • Ingushetia (state language; with Russian)

Inuinnaqtun:

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

Inuktitut:

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

Inuvialuktun:

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

Irish:

Italian:

  • part of Croatia
    • Istria county (with Croatian)
  • part of Slovenia
    • Izola, Koper and Piran municipalities (with Slovene)

Ivatan:

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

Japanese:

Kabardian:

  • Kabardino-Balkaria (state language; with Balkar and Russian)

Kalaallisut:

Kalmyk:

  • Kalmykia (state language; with Russian)

Kannada:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Kapampangan:

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

Karachay:

  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Nogai and Russian)

Karelian:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Finnish and Veps)

Kashmiri:

Kazakh:

  • Republic of Altay (official language; in localities with Kazakh population)
  • part of the People's Republic of China
    • Ili, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Barkol, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Mori, with Chinese (Mandarin)
  • part of Mongolia
    • Mori, with Mongolian

Khakas:

Khanty:

  • Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Mansi and Nenets)
  • Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Nenets and Selkup)

Kinaray-a:

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

Komi:

  • Komi (state language; with Russian)

Komi-Permyak:

  • Perm Krai
    • Komi-Permyak Okrug (official language)

Korean:

Kumyk:

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

Kyrgyz:

Lak:

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

Lezgian:

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

Macedonian

Maguindanao:

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

Malayalam:

Mansi:

  • Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Nenets)

Maranao:

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

Marathi:

Mari (Hill and Meadow):

  • Mari El (state language; with Russian)

Mayan:

Meitei (officially known as Manipuri):

Mi'kmaq:

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

Moksha:

  • Mordovia (state language; with Erzya and Russian)

Mongolian:

  • part of the People's Republic of China
    • Inner Mongolia, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Haixi, with Tibetan and Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Bortala, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Bayin'gholin, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Dorbod, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Qian Gorlos, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Harqin Left, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Fuxin, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Weichang, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Subei, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Henan, with Chinese (Mandarin)

Náhuatl:

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

Nenets:

  • Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Mansi)
  • Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Selkup)

Nepali:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Nogai:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)
  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Russian)

Occitan:

Odia:

  • India (with 21 other regional languages)

Ossetic (Digor and Iron dialects):

Pangasinan:

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

Portuguese:

Punjabi:

Romanian:

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

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

  • Adygea (state language; with Adyghe)
  • Altay, Republic of (state language; with Altay)
  • Bashkortostan (state language; with Bashkir)
  • Buryatia (state language; with Buryat)
  • Chechnya (state language; with Chechen)
  • Chuvashia (state language; with Chuvash)
  • Dagestan (state language; with the languages of the Dagestan peoples)
  • Ingushetia (state language; with Ingush)
  • Kabardino-Balkaria (state language; with Balkar and Kabardian)
  • Kalmykia (state language; with Kalmyk)
  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Nogai)
  • Karelia (state language)
  • Khakassia (state language; with Khakas)
  • Komi (state language; with Komi)
  • Mari El (state language; with Mari (Hill and Meadow))
  • Mordovia (state language; with Erzya and Moksha)
  • North Ossetia—Alania (state language; with Ossetic)
  • Sakha (state language; with Sakha)
  • Tatarstan (state language; with Tatar)
  • Tyva (state language; with Tuvan)
  • Udmurtia (state language; with Udmurt)
  • Russian (with Gagauz) is an official language of Gagauzia (autonomous republic within Moldova)

Rusyn:

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

Rutul:

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

Sakha:

  • Sakha (state language; with Russian)

Sambal:

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

Sami:

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

Sanskrit:

Saraiki

Sarikoli:

Selkup:

  • Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Nenets)

Serbian:

  • Croatia-Co-official minority language in municipalities: Borovo, Trpinja, Markušica, Negoslavci, Vukovar, Šodolovci, Erdut, Darda, Jagodnjak, Kneževi Vinogradi, Dvor, Gvozd, Biskupija, Ervenik, Kistanje, Gračac, Udbina, Vrbovsko, Donji Kukuruzari and Nijemci.

Sindhi:

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

North and South Slavey:

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

Slovak:

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

Slovene:

Spanish:

Surigaonon:

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

Tabasaran:

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

Tagalog:

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

Tahitian:

Tamil:

Tat:

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

Tatar:

Tausug:

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

Telugu:

Tibetan:

  • Tibet Autonomous Region (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Aba (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Garzê (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Dêqên (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Wenshan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Gannan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Haibai (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Hainan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Huangnan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Golog (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Gyêgu (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Haixi (with Mongolian and Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Muli (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Tianzhu (with Chinese (Mandarin))

Tłįchǫ:

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

Tsakhur:

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

Tswana:

Turkish:

Tuvan:

  • Tyva (state language; with Russian)

Udmurt:

  • Udmurtia (state language; with Russian)

Urdu:

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

Uyghur:

Veps:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Finnish and Karelian)

Vietnamese:

  • Guangxi Province, China (some regional status)
  • Part of Cambodia
  • Part of Laos

Waray:

  • Visayas (Philippines) (with Filipino, English, Aklanon, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, and Tagalog)

Welsh:

  • Wales (United Kingdom) (with English)

Yakan:

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

Yiddish:

  • Russia (only in Jewish Autonomous Oblast, with Russian)

Yukaghir:

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

Zhuang:

  • Guangxi (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Lianshan (with Chinese (Mandarin))

See also

  • List of official languages of international organizations
  • List of official languages by country and territory
  • National language
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