A simple formula has been applied to classify these languages: No country with a population of less than one million people has been listed. All languages spoken by 10% + of the population or 5 million people (whichever is lower) are listed - but up to a maximum of 10 languages per country.

Official Languages (OL)

All languages shown as 'Official languages' may be being used in the education system, judiciary and legislature, but may not necessarily be spoken by people in their daily lives.

Classification

The classification of languages is not an exact science - mainly due to problems defining the difference between 'languages' and 'dialects', and how to account for bilingual speakers. Therefore this list is intended as a rough guide only.

Compilers Note / Disclaimer

In the compilation and selection of this listing readers should understand that no political, cultural or racial views are intended, and should not be interpreted from the data. Sources referred to: Ethnologue, SIL: 2000; Operation World: 2000.

Country Pop Major Languages Mill. OL = Official Language

Afghanistan	22.7	PASHTO, SOUTHERN (11.4 mill. OL) DARI [FARSI, EASTERN] (8 mill. OL).
Albania	3.1	ALBANIAN (2.9 mill. OL).
Algeria	31.5	ARABIC (24.3 mill. OL).
Angola	12.9	UMBUNDU (5 mill.) MBUNDU, LOANDA (2.9 mill.) KONGO (1.9 mill.). OL: Portuguese.
Argentina	37.0	SPANISH (33 mill. OL).
Armenia	3.5	ARMENIAN (3.4 mill. OL).
Australia	18.9	ENGLISH (15.3 mill. OL).
Austria	8.2	GERMAN (7.6 mill. OL).
Azerbaijan	7.7	AZERBAIJANI (6.8 mill. OL).
Bangladesh	129.2	BENGALI (104 mill. OL) CHITTAGONIAN (14 mill.) SYLHETTI (7 mill.).
Belarus	10.2	BELORUSSIAN (6.7 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (3.3 mill. OL).Russian is, in reality, the more dominant lang.
Belgium	10.2	FLEMISH (5.6 mill. OL) FRENCH (3.4 mill. OL). Other OL: German.
Benin	6.1	FON (1.75 mill.).OL: French.
Bhutan	2.1	KEBUMTAMP (310,000) NEPALI (300,000) DZONGKHA (260,000 - OL) SHARCHAGPAKHA (243,000).
Bolivia	8.3	SPANISH (3 mill. OL) QUECHA (3.1 mill. OL) AYMARA (2 mill. OL)
Bosnia-Herzegovina	4.0	BOSNIAN (OL) CROATIAN SERBIAN (statistics not available) ROMANI, VLAX (400,000).
Botswana	1.6	TSWANA [SETSWANA] (1.1 mill.) KALANGA (240,000). OL: English (also Tswana for some purposes).
Brazil	170.1	PORTUGUESE (158 mill. OL).
Bulgaria	8.2	BULGARIAN (6.8 mill. OL) TURKISH (900,000 - OL).
Burkina Faso	11.9	MOORE (5.3 mill.). OL: French.
Burundi	6.7	KIRUNDI [RUNDI] (6.5 mill. OL). Other OL: French.
Cambodia	11.2	KHMER [CAMBODIAN] (9.3 mill. OL).
Cameroon	15.1	279 small local langs - no dominant local lang. OL: French.
Canada	31.1	ENGLISH (17 mill. OL) FRENCH (6.7 mill. OL).
Central African Republic	3.6	GBAYA (857,000) BANDA (846,000 - 9 related langs) MANZA (531,000). OLs: French and Sango. (Sango used mainly as a second-lang. by 90% of the pop.)
Chad	7.7	ARABIC (4.6 mill. OL - mostly second-lang. speakers) Other OL: French.
Chile	15.2	SPANISH (14 mill. OL).
China (incl. Hong Kong)	1,269.6	CHINESE, MANDARIN (867 mill. - total including second lang. speakers is 1,050 mill. OL) CHINESE WU (82 mill.), CHINESE, YUE [CANTONESE](59 mill.) CHINESE, JINYU (53 mill.) CHINESE, GAN (37 mill.) CHINESE, XIANG (36 mill.) CHINESE, MIN NAN (32 mill.) CHINESE, HAKKA (31 mill.) CHINESE, MIN BEI (10 mill.). UYGGHUR (7 mill.)
Colombia	42.3	SPANISH (41.7 mill. OL)
Congo (Brazzaville) 2.9	MUNUKUTUBA (1.7 mill.) LINGALA (300,000) OL: French.
Costa Rica	4.0	SPANISH (3.8 mill. OL)
Côte d'Ivoire	14.8	BAOULE (2.93 mill.). OL: French.
Croatia	4.5	CROATIAN (3.9 mill. OL)
Cuba	11.2	SPANISH (11.1 mill. OL)
Czech Republic	10.2	CZECH (9.5 mill. OL)
Democratic Rep. of Congo	51.7	LINGALA / BANGALA (7 mill. - mainly second lang. speakers) TSHILUBA [LUBA-KASAI] (8 mill.) KONGO / KITUBA (7.9 mill. incl. second lang. speakers). OLs: French & English.
Denmark	5.3	DANISH (5.2 mill. OL)
Dominican Republic	8.5	SPANISH (7.2 mill. OL) HAITIAN CREOLE FRENCH (1.2 mill.)
Ecuador	12.6	SPANISH (10.8 mill. OL) QUICHA, CHIMBORAZO (1.34 mill.)
Egypt	68.5	ARABIC (67 mill. OL)
El Salvador	6.3	SPANISH (6.2 mill. OL)
Eritrea	3.9	TIGRINYA (1.8 mill.) TIGRE (1.2 mill.). No OL (Arabic & English widely used).
Estonia	1.4	ESTONIAN (900,000 OL) RUSSIAN (400,000)
Ethiopia	62.6	OROMO (18.2 mill. - total of three related 'Oromo' langs)
Finland	5.2	FINNISH (4.8 mill. OL) Other OL: Swedish.
France	59.1	FRENCH (51 mill. OL)
Gabon	1.2	FANG (350,000). OL: French.
Gambia	1.3	MANDINKA (445,000) PULAAR (230,000) WOLOF (164,000) OL: English.
Georgia	5.0	GEORGIAN (3 mill. OL) MINGRELIAN (500,000)
Germany	82.2	GERMAN (75 mill. OL)
Ghana	20.2	AKAN (9.7 mill. - includes these dialects: Asante-Twi Akuapem-Twi Fante) EWE (2.3 mill.) OL: English.
Greece	10.6	GREEK (9.6 mill. OL)
Guatemala	11.4	SPANISH (4.9 mill. OL)
Guinea	7.4	FULBE (2.8 mill.) MANDE (2 mill.) SUSU (905,500) OL: French.
Guinea-Bissau	1.2	BALANTA (300,000) PULAAR (220,000) MANDINKA (167,000) CRIOULO, UPPER GUINEA (160,0000) OL: Portuguese.
Haiti	8.2	HAITIAN CREOLE FRENCH (7.8 mill.). Official lang: French.
Honduras	6.5	SPANISH (5.9 mill. OL)
Hungary	10.0	HUNGARIAN (9.8 mill. OL)
India	1,013.7	HINDI (408 mill. OL) BENGALI (84 mill.) TELUGU (80 mill.) MARATHI (76 mill.) TAMIL (64 mill.) URDU (53 mill.) GUJARATI (49 mill.) KANNADA (40 mill.) MALAYALAM (36 mill.) ORIYA (34 mill.). Other OL (alongside Hindi): English.
Indonesia	213.0	JAVANESE (90 mill.) SUNDA (35 mill.) INDONESIAN (17 to 30 mill. plus 140 mill. second-lang. speakers - OL) MADURA (15 mill.) MALAY (10 mill.) MINANGKABAU (7.5 mill.).
Iran	67.7	FARSI (30 mill. OL) AZERI [AZERBAIJANI, SOUTH] (11.2 mill.) KURDISH-SORANI (5 mill.)
Iraq	23.1	ARABIC (up to 17.8 mill. OL) KURDISH-SORANI (up to 2.8 mill. with Kurdish-Kurmanji in the Kurdish Autonomous Region).
Ireland	3.7	ENGLISH (3.5 mill. OL) Other OL: Irish Gaelic (used as a first or second lang. by 13% of the population)
Israel	5.1	HEBREW (4.1 mill. - including second-lang. speakers. OL) ARABIC (800,000 - OL) RUSSIAN (750,000)
Italy	57.3	ITALIAN (53.6 mill. including bilinguals - OL) LOMBARD (9 mill. - most bilingual with Italian) NEPOLETANO-CALABRESE (7.7 mill. - most bilingual with Italian)
Jamaica	2.6	JAMAICAN CREOLE ENGLISH (2.74 mill.). OL: English.
Japan	126.7	JAPANESE (125 mill. OL)
Jordan	6.7	ARABIC (6.5 mill. OL)
Kazakhstan	16.2	KAZAKH (8.7 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (4.9 mill.)
Kenya	30.1	KIKUYU [GIKUYU] (6.8 mill. OL) SWAHILI [KISWAHILI] (4 mill. - mostly second-lang. speakers. OL) Other OL: English.
Korea, North	24.0	KOREAN (23.9 mill. OL).
Korea, South	46.8	KOREAN (46.7 mill. OL).
Kuwait	2.0	ARABIC (1.4 mill. OL).
Kyrgyzstan	4.7	KIRGYZ (3.6 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (660,000).
Laos	5.4	LAO (2.3 mill. OL) KHMU (628,000).
Latvia	2.4	LATVIAN (1.3 mill. OL) RUSSIAN (720,000).
Lebanon	3.3	ARABIC (3 mill. OL) Other OL: French.
Lesotho	2.2	SOTHO, SOUTHERN (1.8 mill. OL) ZULU (300,000). Other OL: English.
Liberia	3.2	LIBERIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH (1.5 mill. second-lang. speakers).
Libya	5.6	ARABIC (3.8 mill. OL).
Lithuania	3.7	LITHUANIAN (3 mill. OL).
Macedonia	2.0	MACEDONIAN (1.15 mill. OL) ALBANIAN (460,000).
Madagascar	15.9	MALAGASY (15.7 mill. OL) Other OL: French.
Malawi	10.9	NYANJA [CHICHEWA] (7 mill. OL) Other OL: English.
Malaysia	22.2	MALAY (11 mill. OL) Mali 11.2 BAMBARA (3.7 mill.) FULANI (1.3 mill.) OL: French.
Mauritania	2.7	ARABIC, HASSANIYA (1.9 mill. OL) PULAAR (400,000).
Mauritius	1.2	MORISYEN [MAURITIUS CREOLE FRENCH] (600,000) BHOJPURI (340,000). OL: English (but French widely spoken as a second lang.).
Mexico	98.9	SPANISH (90 mill. OL).
Moldova	4.4	ROMANIAN (2.7 mill. OL) UKRAINIAN (613,000) RUSSIAN (569,000).
Mongolia	2.7	MONGOLIAN, HALH (2.4 mill. OL).
Morocco	28.2	ARABIC (18.3 mill. OL).
Mozambique	19.7	MAKHUWA (6.8 mill.) LOMWE (2 mill.) TSONGA (1.9 mill.) OL: Portuguese.
Myanmar	45.6	BURMESE (26.2 mill. OL).
Namibia	1.7	OWAMBO (870,000) NAMA (215,000) AFRIKAANS (180,000).
Nepal	23.9	NEPALI (12 mill. OL) MAITHILI (2.85 mill.).
Netherlands	15.8	DUTCH (13.8 mill. OL).
New Zealand	3.9	ENGLISH (3.5 mill. OL) Other OL: Maori.
Nicaragua	5.1	SPANISH (4.4 mill. OL).
Niger	10.7	HAUSA (5 mill.) ZARMA (1.6 mill.).OL: French.
Nigeria	111.5	HAUSA (23 mill.) YORUBA (20.3 mill.) IGBO (19.9 mill.) OL: ENGLISH
Norway	4.5	NORWEGIAN (4.2 mill. OL).
Oman	2.5	ARABIC (1.7 mill. OL).
Pakistan	156.5	PANJABI, WESTERN (30 to 45 mill.) PANJABI, SOUTHERN [SARAIKI] (15 to 30 mill.) SINDHI (17 mill.) URDU (11 mill. OL) PASHTO, NORTHERN (10 mill.)
Palestinian W. Bank & Gaza	3.4	ARABIC (3.1 mill. OL).
Panama	2.9	SPANISH (2.3 mill. OL).
Papua New Guinea	4.8	TOK PISIN (at least 2 mill. - mostly second-lang. spkers).
Paraguay	5.5	GUARANI (5.2 mill. OL) Other OL: Spanish.
Peru	25.7	SPANISH (20.6 mill. OL) Other OL: Cuzco Quecha.
Philippines	76.0	TAGALOG [FILIPINO] (22.3 mill. OL) CEBUANO (17.7 mill.) ILOCANO (7.1 mill.) HILIGAYNON (6.9 mill.).
Poland	38.8	POLISH (37.7 mill. OL).
Portugal	9.9	PORTUGUESE (9.6 mill. OL).
Puerto Rico	3.9	SPANISH (3.8 mill. OL) Other OL: English.
Romania	22.3	ROMANIAN (19 mill. OL)
Russia	146.9	RUSSIAN (121 mill. OL) TATAR (6 mill.)
Rwanda	7.7	KINYARWANDA (7.6 mill. OL) Other OLs: French and English.
Saudi Arabia	21.6	ARABIC (21.6 mill. OL).
Senegal	9.5	WOLOF (4.2 mill.) PULAAR (2.3 mill.) SERER-SINE (1.2 mill.). OL: French.
Sierra Leone	4.9	THEMNE (1.46 mill.) MENDE (1.4 mill.) KRIO (490,000 - although spoken as a second-lang. by a further 3.9 mill. people). OL: English.
Singapore	3.6	CHINESE, MIN NAN (1.53 mill.) MALAY (500,000 - one of the OLs) CHINESE, YUE [CANTONESE] (420,000) Other OLs: Mandarin Chinese, English and Tamil [English is the primary lang. for education].
Slovakia	5.4	SLOVAK (4.3 mill. OL) HUNGARIAN (571,000)
Slovenia	2.0	SLOVENIAN (1.8 mill. OL) Other OLs: Hungarian, Italian.
Somalia	10.1	SOMALI (7 mill. est. OL) MAAY (up to 1.5 mill.). Other OL: Arabic.
South Africa	40.4	ZULU (9.1 mill.) XHOSA (7.1 mill.) SOTHO (6.8 mill. - total of two related 'Sotho' langs.) National langs: 11 - all the major ethnic langs. English and Afrikaans are the main lang.s in higher education.
Spain	39.8	SPANISH (29 mill. OL) CATALAN (6.7 mill.) (in their respective autonomous regions).
Sri Lanka	18.8	SINHALESE (14 mill. OL) TAMIL (3.2 mill. OL) Other OL: English.
Sudan	29.5	ARABIC (13.3 mill. OL)
Swaziland	1.0	SWATI [SISWATI] (900,000 - OL). Other OL: English.
Sweden	8.9	SWEDISH (7.9 mill. OL)
Switzerland	7.4	ALEMANNISCH [related to GERMAN] (4.7 mill.) FRENCH (1.4 mill. OL) Other OLs: German, Italian and Romansch.
Syria	16.1	ARABIC (14.8 mill. OL)
Taiwan	22.4	CHINESE, MIN NAN (15 mill.) CHINESE, MANDARIN (4.6 mill. OL) CHINESE, HAKKA (2.2 mill.)
Tajikistan	6.2	TADZHIK [TAJIK] (4.1 mill. OL) UZBEK (1.55 mill.)
Tanzania	33.5	SWAHILI [KISWAHILI] (31 mill., most of whom are bi-lingual in their local lang. OL) SUKUMA (3.2 mill.). Other OL: English.
Thailand	61.4	THAI (56 mill. OL)
Togo	4.6	EWE (1 mill.) KABRE (730,000) WACHI (570,000). OL: French.
Trinidad and Tobago	1.3	ENGLISH (OL - no of speakers unknown).
Tunisia	9.6	ARABIC (9.4 mill. OL)
Turkey	66.6	TURKISH (up to 53 mill.) KURDISH, KURMANJI (5 to 9 mill.)
Turkmenistan	4.5	TURKMEN (3.5 mill. OL)
Uganda	21.8	LUGANDA (3.5 mill.). OL: English.
Ukraine	50.5	UKRAINIAN (34.5 mill. OL - many bilingual with Russian.) RUSSIAN (13.2 mill.)
United Arab Emirates	2.4	ARABIC (930,000 OL) MALAYALAM (300,000 - ex-pats.)
United Kingdom	58.8	ENGLISH (55 mill. OL) Other OL: Welsh (in Wales only)
Uruguay	3.3	SPANISH (3.1 mill. OL)
USA	278.4	ENGLISH (230 mill. OL) SPANISH (34 mill.).
Uzbekistan	24.3	UZBEK, NORTHERN (18.5 mill. OL)
Venezuela	24.2	SPANISH (21.5 mill. OL)
Viet Nam	79.8	VIETNAMESE (69 mill. OL)
Yemen	18.1	ARABIC (17.2 mill. OL)
Yugoslavia	10.6	SERBIAN (10 mill. est. OL) ALBANIAN (up to 1.8 mill. - mainly in Kosovo).
Zambia	9.2	BEMBA (2.3 mill.) NYANJA [CHICHEWA] (1.1 mill.) TONGA (1.1 mill.). OL: English.
Zimbabwe	11.7	SHONA (8.2 mill.) NDEBELE (1.6 mill.) OL:English.

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