List of official languages by state

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This is a complete list of the official languages designated in the sovereign states of the world. It includes all languages that have official language status either statewide or in a part of the state, or that have status as a national language, regional language, or minority language.

Only states, which are defined as sovereign, internationally recognised, independent political entities, are listed. This is not a list of countries or nations, although many states listed, are simultaneously also countries and/or nations.

For dependent territories, refer to the corresponding sovereign states.

[edit] Definitions

  • Official language: one designated as having a unique legal status in the state, typically, the language used in a nation's legislative bodies, and often, official government business
  • Regional language: one designated as having official status limited to a specific area, administrative division, or territory of the state (on this page a regional language will have parentheses next to it that contain a region, province, etc. where the language has regional status)
  • Minority language: (as used here) one spoken by a minority population within the state and officially designated as such; typically afforded protection and designated an officially permissible language for legal and government business in a specific area or territory of the state (on this page a minority language will be followed by parentheses that identify its minority status)
  • National language: one that uniquely represents the national identity of a state, nation, and/or country and so designated by a country's government; some are technically minority languages (on this page a national language will be followed by parentheses that identify it as a national language status). Some countries have more than one language with this status.
Contents Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

  • Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan
    • Pashto (statewide) (official)
    • Dari (statewide) (official)
    • Uzbek (statewide) (third official language in areas where spoken by majority of population)
    • Turkmen (statewide) (third official language in areas where spoken by majority of population)
    • Pashai (statewide) (third official language in areas where spoken by majority of population)
    • Nuristani (statewide) (third official language in areas where spoken by majority of population)
    • Balochi (statewide) (third official language in areas where spoken by majority of population)
    • Pamiri (statewide) (third official language in areas where spoken by majority of population)'[1]


[edit] B


[edit] C



[edit] D


[edit] E


[edit] F



[edit] G


[edit] H


[edit] I

main article: Official languages of India


[edit] J

  • Flag of Japan Japan
    • No official language nationwide, Japanese is the de facto official language and the national language.
    • Ryukyuan (minority language)
    • Ainu (minority language)
    • Korean (minority language)


[edit] K


[edit] L


[edit] M


[edit] N


[edit] O

[edit] P


[edit] Q


[edit] R

[edit] S

[edit] T


[edit] U


[edit] V


[edit] W


[edit] Y


[edit] Z

[edit] References and footnotes

  1. ^ Constitution of Afghanistan] (Article 16)
  2. ^ Constitution of Albania (Article 14)
  3. ^ a b Constitution of Algeria (Article 3) (MS Word format)
  4. ^ Constitution of Andorra (Article 2)
  5. ^ Constitution of Antigua and Barbuba, 1981 — Article 29 (implicit)
  6. ^ Constitution of Antigua and Barbuba, 1981 — Article 29 (implicit)
  7. ^ Argentina: Country Information
  8. ^ Constitution of Armenia (Article 12)
  9. ^ Constitution of Austria (Article 8)
  10. ^ a b Constitution of Austria, Article 8 & State Treaty for the Re-establishment of an Independent and Democratic Austria) (Article 7, Page 188)
  11. ^ Constitution of Azerbaijan, Constitution of Azerbaijan (English translation) (Article 21)
  12. ^ The Constitution of Jamaica section 20(6e) (implicit)
  13. ^ “Article 3 – Language”, The Constitution of The Republic of Namibia, orusovo.com, <http://www.orusovo.com/namcon/chap1.htm#art3>. Retrieved on 2008-04-23 
  14. ^ United Kingdom; Key Facts, Commonwealth Secretariat, <http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookHomeInternal/139560/>. Retrieved on 2008-04-23 
  15. ^ Cornish gains official recognition, BBC News, November 6, 2002, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2410383.stm>. Retrieved on 8 May 2008 


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