Official Languages of the World

140 official languages are listed here, ranked by how many of the 196 countries recognise them. Click a country to see all of its official languages.

Facts last checked 9 October 2026.

LanguageCountriesOfficial in
English59Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe
French31Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, DR Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Vanuatu
Arabic25Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Spanish21Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela
Portuguese8Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste
Russian7Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
German6Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Namibia
Italian4Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City
Swahili4DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
Tswana4Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Chinese3China, Singapore, Taiwan
Dutch3Belgium, Netherlands, Suriname
Guaraní3Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
Malay3Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore
Serbian3Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia
Tamil3India, Singapore, Sri Lanka
Afrikaans2Namibia, South Africa
Albanian2Albania, Kosovo
Aymara2Bolivia, Peru
Catalan2Andorra, Spain
Chewa2Malawi, Zimbabwe
Croatian2Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia
Greek2Cyprus, Greece
Kikongo2DR Congo, Republic of the Congo
Korean2North Korea, South Korea
Lingala2DR Congo, Republic of the Congo
Quechua2Bolivia, Peru
Romanian2Moldova, Romania
Slovak2Czechia, Slovakia
Sotho2Lesotho, Zimbabwe
Swazi2Eswatini, South Africa
Swedish2Finland, Sweden
Tsonga2South Africa, Zimbabwe
Turkish2Cyprus, Turkey
Turkmen2Afghanistan, Turkmenistan
Venda2South Africa, Zimbabwe
Xhosa2South Africa, Zimbabwe
Amharic1Ethiopia
Aramaic1Iraq
Armenian1Armenia
Azerbaijani1Azerbaijan
Basque1Spain
Belarusian1Belarus
Belizean Creole1Belize
Bengali1Bangladesh
Berber1Morocco
Bislama1Vanuatu
Bosnian1Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgarian1Bulgaria
Burmese1Myanmar
Chibarwe1Zimbabwe
Comorian1Comoros
Czech1Czechia
Danish1Denmark
Dari1Afghanistan
Dzongkha1Bhutan
Estonian1Estonia
Fiji Hindi1Fiji
Fijian1Fiji
Filipino1Philippines
Finnish1Finland
Galician1Spain
Georgian1Georgia
Gilbertese1Kiribati
Haitian Creole1Haiti
Hebrew1Israel
Herero1Namibia
Hindi1India
Hiri Motu1Papua New Guinea
Hungarian1Hungary
Icelandic1Iceland
Indonesian1Indonesia
Irish1Ireland
Jamaican Patois1Jamaica
Japanese1Japan
Kalanga1Zimbabwe
Kazakh1Kazakhstan
Khmer1Cambodia
Khoekhoe1Namibia
Khoisan1Zimbabwe
Kinyarwanda1Rwanda
Kirundi1Burundi
Kwangali1Namibia
Kyrgyz1Kyrgyzstan
Lao1Laos
Latin1Vatican City
Latvian1Latvia
Lithuanian1Lithuania
Lozi1Namibia
Luxembourgish1Luxembourg
Macedonian1North Macedonia
Malagasy1Madagascar
Maldivian1Maldives
Maltese1Malta
Marshallese1Marshall Islands
Mauritian Creole1Mauritius
Mongolian1Mongolia
Montenegrin1Montenegro
Māori1New Zealand
Nauru1Nauru
Ndau1Zimbabwe
Ndonga1Namibia
Nepali1Nepal
New Zealand Sign Language1New Zealand
Northern Ndebele1Zimbabwe
Northern Sotho1South Africa
Norwegian Bokmål1Norway
Norwegian Nynorsk1Norway
Palauan1Palau
Pashto1Afghanistan
Persian (Farsi)1Iran
Polish1Poland
Romansh1Switzerland
Sami1Norway
Samoan1Samoa
Sango1Central African Republic
Seychellois Creole1Seychelles
Shona1Zimbabwe
Sinhala1Sri Lanka
Slovene1Slovenia
Somali1Somalia
Sorani1Iraq
Southern Ndebele1South Africa
Southern Sotho1South Africa
Swiss German1Switzerland
Tajik1Tajikistan
Tetum1Timor-Leste
Thai1Thailand
Tigrinya1Eritrea
Tok Pisin1Papua New Guinea
Tonga1Zimbabwe
Tongan1Tonga
Tshiluba1DR Congo
Tuvaluan1Tuvalu
Ukrainian1Ukraine
Urdu1Pakistan
Uzbek1Uzbekistan
Vietnamese1Vietnam
Zimbabwean Sign Language1Zimbabwe
Zulu1South Africa

Official Languages of the World — FAQ

Which language is official in the most countries?

English is official in 59 of the 196 countries on this site, more than any other language.

How many official languages are there?

This site lists 140 languages with official status in at least one country.

Does official language mean most spoken?

Not always. A country can recognise several official languages, and many people speak minority or regional languages that have no national official status.

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