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