Country ranking for field: languages 1998

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This entry provides a listing of languages spoken in each country and specifies any that are official national or regional languages. When data is available, the languages spoken in each country are broken down according to the percent of the total population speaking each language as a first language. For those countries without available data, languages are listed in rank order based on prevalence, starting with the most-spoken language.


1flag of CameroonCameroon24 
2flag of South AfricaSouth Africa11 official languages including Afrikaans English Ndebele Pedi Sotho Swazi Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zulu 
3flag of AfghanistanAfghanistanPashtu 35% Afghan Persian 
4flag of ParaguayParaguaySpanish 
5flag of Norfolk IslandNorfolk IslandEnglish 
6flag of North KoreaNorth KoreaKorean 
7flag of Northern Mariana IslandsNorthern Mariana IslandsEnglish Chamorro Carolinian 
8flag of NorwayNorwayNorwegian 
9flag of OmanOmanArabic 
10flag of PakistanPakistanPunjabi 48% Sindhi 12% Siraiki 
11flag of PalauPalauEnglish 
12flag of PanamaPanamaSpanish 
13flag of Papua New GuineaPapua New GuineaEnglish spoken by 1%-2% pidgin English widespread Motu spoken in Papua region 
14flag of PhilippinesPhilippinesPilipino 
15flag of PeruPeruSpanish 
16flag of NigeriaNigeriaEnglish 
17flag of Pitcairn IslandsPitcairn IslandsEnglish 
18flag of PolandPolandPolish 
19flag of PortugalPortugalPortuguese 
20flag of Puerto RicoPuerto RicoSpanish English 
21flag of QatarQatarArabic 
22flag of RomaniaRomaniaRomanian Hungarian German 
23flag of RussiaRussiaRussian other 
24flag of RwandaRwandaKinyarwanda 
25flag of Saint HelenaSaint HelenaEnglish 
26flag of Saint Kitts and NevisSaint Kitts and NevisEnglish 
27flag of NiueNiuePolynesian closely related to Tongan and Samoan English 
28flag of NigerNigerFrench 
29flag of Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesEnglish French patois 
30flag of MayotteMayotteMahorian 
31flag of MacauMacauPortuguese Chinese 
32flag of MadagascarMadagascarFrench 
33flag of MalawiMalawiEnglish 
34flag of MalaysiaMalaysiaPeninsular Malaysia_Malay 
35flag of MaldivesMaldivesMaldivian Divehi 
36flag of MaliMaliFrench 
37flag of MaltaMaltaMaltese 
38flag of Marshall IslandsMarshall IslandsEnglish 
39flag of MartiniqueMartiniqueFrench Creole patois 
40flag of MauritaniaMauritaniaHasaniya Arabic 
41flag of MauritiusMauritiusEnglish 
42flag of MexicoMexicoSpanish various Mayan Nahuatl and other regional indigenous languages 
43flag of NicaraguaNicaraguaSpanish 
44flag of MoldovaMoldovaMoldovan 
45flag of MonacoMonacoFrench 
46flag of MongoliaMongoliaKhalkha Mongol 90% Turkic Russian Chinese 
47flag of MontserratMontserratEnglish 
48flag of MoroccoMoroccoArabic 
49flag of MozambiqueMozambiquePortuguese 
50flag of MyanmarMyanmarBurmese minority ethnic groups have their own languages 
51flag of NamibiaNamibiaEnglish 7% 
52flag of NauruNauruNauruan 
53flag of NepalNepalNepali 
54flag of New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaFrench 28 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects 
55flag of New ZealandNew ZealandEnglish 
56flag of Saint LuciaSaint LuciaEnglish 
57flag of San MarinoSan MarinoItalian 
58flag of SamoaSamoaSamoan 
59flag of United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesArabic 
60flag of TokelauTokelauTokelauan 
61flag of TongaTongaTongan English 
62flag of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and TobagoEnglish 
63flag of TunisiaTunisiaArabic 
64flag of TurkeyTurkeyTurkish 
65flag of TurkmenistanTurkmenistanTurkmen 72% Russian 12% Uzbek 9% other 7% 
66flag of Turks and Caicos IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsEnglish 
67flag of TuvaluTuvaluTuvaluan English 
68flag of U.S. Virgin IslandsU.S. Virgin IslandsEnglish 
69flag of UgandaUgandaEnglish 
70flag of UkraineUkraineUkrainian Russian Romanian Polish Hungarian 
71flag of United KingdomUnited KingdomEnglish Welsh 
72flag of The NetherlandsThe NetherlandsDutch 
73flag of United StatesUnited StatesEnglish Spanish 
74flag of UruguayUruguaySpanish Portunol or Brazilero 
75flag of UzbekistanUzbekistanUzbek 74.3% Russian 14 
76flag of VanuatuVanuatuEnglish 
77flag of VenezuelaVenezuelaSpanish 
78flag of VietnamVietnamVietnamese 
79flag of Wallis and FutunaWallis and FutunaFrench Wallisian 
80flag of West BankWest BankArabic Hebrew 
81flag of Western SaharaWestern SaharaHassaniya Arabic Moroccan Arabic 
82flag of YemenYemenArabic 
83flag of ZambiaZambiaEnglish 
84flag of TogoTogoFrench 
85flag of The GambiaThe GambiaEnglish 
86flag of LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuanian 
87flag of SpainSpainCastilian Spanish 74% Catalan 17% Galician 7% Basque 2% 
88flag of Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaArabic 
89flag of SenegalSenegalFrench 
90flag of Serbia and MontenegroSerbia and MontenegroSerbo-Croatian 95% Albanian 5% 
91flag of SeychellesSeychellesEnglish 
92flag of Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneEnglish 
93flag of SingaporeSingaporeChinese 
94flag of SlovakiaSlovakiaSlovak 
95flag of SloveniaSloveniaSlovenian 91% Serbo-Croatian 6% other 3% 
96flag of Solomon IslandsSolomon IslandsMelanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca English spoken by 1%-2% of population 
97flag of SomaliaSomaliaSomali 
98flag of South KoreaSouth KoreaKorean English widely taught in junior high and high school 
99flag of Sri LankaSri LankaSinhala 
100flag of The BahamasThe BahamasEnglish Creole 
101flag of SudanSudanArabic 
102flag of SurinameSurinameDutch 
103flag of SvalbardSvalbardRussian Norwegian 
104flag of SwazilandSwazilandEnglish 
105flag of SwedenSwedenSwedish 
106flag of SwitzerlandSwitzerlandGerman 63.7% French 19 
107flag of SyriaSyriaArabic 
108flag of TaiwanTaiwanMandarin Chinese 
109flag of TajikistanTajikistanTajik 
110flag of TanzaniaTanzaniaKiswahili or Swahili 
111flag of ThailandThailandThai English 
112flag of LuxembourgLuxembourgLuxembourgian German French English 
113flag of LiechtensteinLiechtensteinGerman 
114flag of AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbanian 
115flag of ColombiaColombiaSpanish 
116flag of BurundiBurundiKirundi 
117flag of Cabo VerdeCabo VerdePortuguese Crioulo a blend of Portuguese and West African words 
118flag of CambodiaCambodiaKhmer 
119flag of CanadaCanadaEnglish 
120flag of Cayman IslandsCayman IslandsEnglish 
121flag of Central African RepublicCentral African RepublicFrench 
122flag of ChadChadFrench 
123flag of ChileChileSpanish 
124flag of ChinaChinaStandard Chinese or Mandarin 
125flag of Christmas IslandChristmas IslandEnglish 
126flag of Cocos IslandsCocos IslandsEnglish Malay 
127flag of CongoCongoFrench 
128flag of BulgariaBulgariaBulgarian secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown 
129flag of Cook IslandsCook IslandsEnglish 
130flag of Costa RicaCosta RicaSpanish 
131flag of CroatiaCroatiaSerbo-Croatian 96% other 4% 
132flag of CubaCubaSpanish 
133flag of CyprusCyprusGreek Turkish English 
134flag of Czech RepublicCzech RepublicCzech Slovak 
135flag of Côte d'IvoireCôte d'IvoireFrench 
136flag of Democratic Republic of the CongoDemocratic Republic of the CongoFrench 
137flag of DenmarkDenmarkDanish Faroese Greenlandic 
138flag of DjiboutiDjiboutiFrench 
139flag of DominicaDominicaEnglish 
140flag of Burkina FasoBurkina FasoFrench 
141flag of BruneiBruneiMalay 
142flag of EcuadorEcuadorSpanish 
143flag of AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzeri 89% Russian 3% Armenian 2% other 6% 
144flag of AlgeriaAlgeriaArabic 
145flag of American SamoaAmerican SamoaSamoan 
146flag of AndorraAndorraCatalan 
147flag of AngolaAngolaPortuguese 
148flag of AnguillaAnguillaEnglish 
149flag of Antigua and BarbudaAntigua and BarbudaEnglish 
150flag of ArgentinaArgentinaSpanish 
151flag of ArmeniaArmeniaArmenian 96% Russian 2% other 2% 
152flag of ArubaArubaDutch 
153flag of AustraliaAustraliaEnglish native languages 
154flag of AustriaAustriaGerman 
155flag of BangladeshBangladeshBangla 
156flag of British Virgin IslandsBritish Virgin IslandsEnglish 
157flag of BarbadosBarbadosEnglish 
158flag of BelarusBelarusByelorussian Russian other 
159flag of BelgiumBelgiumFlemish 56% French 32% German 1% legally bilingual 11% 
160flag of BelizeBelizeEnglish 
161flag of BeninBeninFrench 
162flag of BermudaBermudaEnglish 
163flag of BhutanBhutanDzongkha 
164flag of BoliviaBoliviaSpanish 
165flag of Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and HerzegovinaSerbo-Croatian 
166flag of BotswanaBotswanaEnglish 
167flag of BrazilBrazilPortuguese 
168flag of Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicSpanish 
169flag of EgyptEgyptArabic 
170flag of LibyaLibyaArabic Italian English all are widely understood in the major cities 
171flag of JapanJapanJapanese 
172flag of HungaryHungaryHungarian 98.2% other 1 
173flag of IcelandIcelandIcelandic 
174flag of IndiaIndiaEnglish enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national political and commercial communication Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people Bengali 
175flag of IndonesiaIndonesiaBahasa Indonesia 
176flag of IranIranPersian and Persian dialects 58% Turkic and Turkic dialects 26% Kurdish 9% Luri 2% Balochi 1% Arabic 1% Turkish 1% other 2% 
177flag of IraqIraqArabic Kurdish 
178flag of IrelandIrelandIrish 
179flag of Isle of ManIsle of ManEnglish Manx Gaelic 
180flag of IsraelIsraelHebrew 
181flag of ItalyItalyItalian German 
182flag of JamaicaJamaicaEnglish Creole 
183flag of JerseyJerseyEnglish 
184flag of HondurasHondurasSpanish Amerindian dialects 
185flag of JordanJordanArabic 
186flag of KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakh 
187flag of KenyaKenyaEnglish 
188flag of KiribatiKiribatiEnglish 
189flag of KuwaitKuwaitArabic 
190flag of KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstanKirghiz 
191flag of LaosLaosLao 
192flag of LatviaLatviaLettish 
193flag of LebanonLebanonArabic 
194flag of LesothoLesothoSesotho 
195flag of LiberiaLiberiaEnglish 20% 
196flag of Hong KongHong KongChinese 
197flag of Holy SeeHoly SeeItalian Latin various other languages 
198flag of El SalvadorEl SalvadorSpanish Nahua 
199flag of Gaza StripGaza StripArabic Hebrew 
200flag of Equatorial GuineaEquatorial GuineaSpanish 
201flag of EritreaEritreaAfar Amharic Arabic Tigre and Kunama Tigrinya minor ethnic group languages 
202flag of EstoniaEstoniaEstonian 
203flag of Falkland IslandsFalkland IslandsEnglish 
204flag of Faroe IslandsFaroe IslandsFaroese 
205flag of Federated States of MicronesiaFederated States of MicronesiaEnglish 
206flag of FijiFijiEnglish 
207flag of FinlandFinlandFinnish 93.5% 
208flag of FranceFranceFrench 100% rapidly declining regional dialects and languages 
209flag of French PolynesiaFrench PolynesiaFrench 
210flag of GabonGabonFrench 
211flag of GeorgiaGeorgiaArmenian 7% Azeri 6% Georgian 71% 
212flag of HaitiHaitiFrench 
213flag of GermanyGermanyGerman 
214flag of GhanaGhanaEnglish 
215flag of GibraltarGibraltarEnglish 
216flag of GrenadaGrenadaEnglish 
217flag of GuadeloupeGuadeloupeFrench 
218flag of GuamGuamEnglish Chamorro Japanese 
219flag of GuatemalaGuatemalaSpanish 60% Amerindian languages 40% 
220flag of GuernseyGuernseyEnglish French Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts 
221flag of Guinea-BissauGuinea-BissauPortuguese 
222flag of GuineaGuineaFrench 
223flag of GuyanaGuyanaEnglish Amerindian dialects 
224flag of ZimbabweZimbabweEnglish 


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