Rank |
Language |
Number of countries |
Countries |
1 | English | 54, plus 27 territories | American Samoa (United States), Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda (United Kingdom), Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Cook Islands (New Zealand), Curaçao (Netherlands), Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guam (United States), Guyana, Hong Kong (China), India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Federated States of 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, San Andrés y Providencia (Colombia), Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Maarten (Netherlands), Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands (United States), Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe. |
2 | French | 38, plus 16 territories | Algeria, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Laos, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Monaco, Morocco, New Caledonia (France), Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu. |
3 | Arabic | 27 | Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. |
4 | Spanish | 20, plus 1 territory | Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico (United States), Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela. |
5 | Portuguese | 9, plus 1 territory | Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste, Goa (India). |
6 | Fulfulde | 20 | Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote D'ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo |
7 | German | 8 | Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy) |
8 | Russian | 7 | Belarus, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Transnistria, Ukraine |
9 | Italian | 6 | Italy, Croatia,[1] Malta,[2] Monaco,[3] San Marino, Slovenia, Switzerland, Vatican City |
10 | Chinese | 6 | China, Hong Kong (in the form of Cantonese), Macau (in the form of Cantonese), Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan |
10 | Dutch | 6 | Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Curacao, Suriname, Sint Maarten |
11 | Malay/Indonesian | 5 | Indonesia (known as Indonesian, and Malay is a separate regional language), Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, East Timor (in the form of Indonesian, as working language) |
11 | Tamil | 5 | India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia (west coast), Singapore, Mauritius |
11 | Swahili | 5 | Tanzania, Kenya, DRC, Uganda, Burundi |
11 | Serbo-Croatian | 5 | Serbia (as Serbian), Croatia (as Croatian), Montenegro (as Montenegrin), Bosnia and Herzegovina (as Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian), Kosovo (as Serbian) |
11 | Persian language | 5 | Iran, Afghanistan (as Dari), Tajikistan (as Tajik), Uzbekistan (as Tajik), Iraq |
12 | Bengali | 4, plus 1 territory | India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia,[4] Sierra Leone (honorary official language),[5] Karachi (Pakistan) (as a recognized secondary language)[6][7][8][9] |
13 | Hindi | 3 | India, Fiji (as Fiji Hindi), Mauritius |
13 | Armenian | 3 | Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Georgia |
14 |
Punjabi |
2 |
India, Pakistan |
14 | Turkish | 2 | Turkey, Cyprus |
14 | Romanian | 2 | Romania, Moldova |
14 | Swedish | 2 | Sweden, Finland |
14 | Greek | 2 | Cyprus, Greece |
14 | Korean | 2 | North Korea, South Korea |
14 | Albanian | 2 | Albania, Kosovo |
14 | Urdu | 2 | India, Pakistan |