List of languages by the number of countries in which they are recognized as an official language
This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are de jure or de facto official.
Language | World | Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe | Oceania | Countries |
English | 59 | 24 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 12 | United States, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, United Kingdom. See the full list |
French | 29 | 21 | 2 | - | 5 | 1 | France, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Canada, Madagascar. See the full list |
Arabic | 26 | 14 | - | 12 | - | - | Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco. See the full list |
Spanish | 21 | 1 | 19 | - | 1 | - | Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina. See the full list |
Portuguese | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola. See full list |
Italian | 8 | 2 | - | - | 6 | - | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, Slovenia, Croatia, Eritrea, Somalia |
German | 6 | - | - | - | 6 | - | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Italy |
Russian | 5 | - | - | 2 | 2 | - | Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. See also the full list |
Malay based | 4 | - | - | 4 | - | - | Indonesia (known as Indonesian, and Malay is a separate regional language), Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei |
Chinese | 3 | - | - | 3 | - | - | China, Taiwan, Singapore |
Dutch | - | 1 | - | 2 | - | Netherlands, Belgium, Surinam |
Persian | - | - | 3 | - | - | Iran, Afghanistan (known as Dari), Tajikistan (known as Tajik) |
Romanian | - | - | - | 3 | - | Romania, Moldova, Transnistria* (uses Cyrillic script there) |
Serbian | - | - | - | 3 | - | Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* |
Swahili | 3 | - | - | - | - | Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda |
Tamil | 3 | - | - | 3 | - | - | Sri Lanka, Singapore, India (Tamil Nadu) |
Several languages are officially used in two countries, these are:
- Note
- Asterisk shows the countries which independence is disputed
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| See also |
- Lists of languages
- Category:Languages
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