Countries and languages spoken
When seeking the assistance of an interpreter or electing to translate a document, it is vital that the appropriate language be identified. Some people may use a non-standard variety of a language such as a dialect, e.g. Hokkien (Chinese), Lebanese (Arabic). However, the distinction between some dialects and languages is not always clear, for a variety of reasons. The following information is intended to provide useful general information regarding countries and the major languages/dialects/other languages spoken in those countries. It should be stressed that the listing provides general guidance only and it is not intended to be inclusive of all the languages and/or dialects that may be spoken, within a given country.
Country |
Main Language |
Other languages & dialects |
---|---|---|
AFGHANISTAN | Pushtu, Dari | Uzbeki, Turkmani, Baluchi, Pashaii, Nuristani |
ALBANIA | Albanian | Greek |
ALGERIA | Arabic | French, Berber dialects |
ARGENTINA | Spanish | Italian, native American Indian languages |
ARMENIA | Armenian | Arabic, Turkish, French, Russian, Azeri |
ASSYRIA | Assyrian (Syriac) | Chaldean, Arabic, Persian |
AUSTRIA | German | |
AZERBAIJAN | Azeri | Russian, Armenian, Lezgin |
BANGLADESH | Bengali | English, Urdu, Assamese |
BELARUS | Byelorussian | Russian, Urkanian, Polish |
BELGIUM | French, Dutch | German, Flemish |
BOLIVIA | Spanish | Quecha, Aymara |
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA | Bosnian | Croatian, Serbian |
BRAZIL | Portuguese | Native American Indian languages |
BRUNEI | Malay | Chinese, English, Brunei |
BULGARIA | Bulgarian | Turkish, Romani, Greek |
CAMBODIA | Khmer | Mandarin, Teo Chiew, Vietnamese, French |
CANADA | English, French | |
CHILE | Spanish | Native American Indian languages |
CHINA (People’s Republic of) | Cantonese, Mandarin | Hakka, Tibetan, Mongolian, Hokkien, fukkien and 500 other languages |
COLOMBIA | Spanish | Native American Indian languages |
COOK ISLANDS | Cook Is. Maori, English | Raratonga, Pukapuka and others |
COSTA RICA | Spanish | Creole, English |
CROATIA | Croatian | Bosnian, Slovenian, Serbian |
CUBA | Spanish | |
CYPRUS | Greek, Turkish | |
CZECH | Czech | |
DENMARK | Danish | Faroese dialect |
EAST TIMOR | Tetum | Portuguese, Hakka |
ECUADOR | Spanish | Quechua |
EGYPT | Arabic | |
ERITREA | Tigrigna | Amharic |
ESTONIA | Estonian | Russian |
ETHIOPIA | Amharic | Tigrigna, Oromo, Italian, Arabic |
FIJI | Fijian | Hindi |
FINLAND | Finnish | Swedish, Sami |
MACEDONIA | Macedonian | Albian, Serbian |
FRANCE | French | Basque, Breton, Provencal |
GERMANY | German | |
GHANA | English, Akan | Ewe, other African languages |
GREECE | Greek | Macedonian, Turkish, Albanian |
GUATEMALA | Spanish | Native American Indian languages |
HAITI | French | Creole |
HONDURAS | Spanish | Native American Indian languages |
HONG KONG | Cantonese | Other Chinese dialects |
HUNGARY | Hungarian | Romanian |
INDIA | Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayam, Konkani,Manipari | Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Assamese, Nepalese and 18 other official languages |
INDONESIA | Bahasa Indonesia | Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese |
IRAN | Persian (Farsi) | Azeri, Kurdish, Armenian, Arabic, Turkish, Baluchi, Assyrian |
IRAQ | Arabic | Kurdish, Assyrian, Turkmani |
IRELAND (Eire) | English | Irish Gaelic |
ISRAEL | Hebrew | Arabic, Yiddish, Russian |
ITALY | Italian | Italian dialects |
JAPAN | Japanese | |
JORDAN | Arabic | |
KENYA | Swahili | Kikuyu, Gujarati, Masai |
KIRIBATI | Ikiribati | English |
KOREA-NORTH | Korean | |
KOREA-SOUTH | Korean | |
KURDISTAN | Kurdish | Arabic, Turkish, Persian |
KUWAIT | Arabic | English |
LAOS | Laotian | Hmong, Chinese dialects, French |
LATVIA | Latvian (Lettish) | Russian, Polish |
LEBANON | Arabic | Armenian, French |
LITHUANIA | Lithuanian | Russian, Polish |
MACAU | Portuguese, Cantonese | Other Chinese languages |
MALAYSIA | Malay (Bahasa Malaysian) | Tamil, Sinhalese, Cantonese, Hokkien and other Chinese dialects |
MALTA | Maltese | Italian |
MAURITIUS | English | Creole, Hindi, Urdu, French |
MEXICO | Spanish | Native American Indian languages |
MONTENEGRO | Serbian | Croatian, Bosnian |
MORROCO | Arabic | Berber dialects, French |
MYANMAR (Burma) | Burmese | English, Karen, native languages |
NAURU | Nauruan | English, Ikiribati, Chinese, Tuvalu |
NEPAL | Nepali | Others |
NETHERLANDS | Dutch | Friesian |
NEW ZEALAND | English | Maori |
NEW CALEDONIA | French | Melanesian, Wallisian |
NICURAGUA | Spanish | Miskito |
NIUE | English, Niuen | |
NORWAY | Norwegian | Sami |
PAKISTAN | Urdu | Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Buluchi |
PALESTINE | Arabic | |
PAPUA NEW GUINEA | Pidgin, English | Hiri Motu and 100’s others |
PARAGUAY | Spanish, Guarani | |
PERU | Spanish | Quecha, Aymara |
PHILIPPINES | Filippino (Tagalog) | Cebuano, Hilgayano, Bikolano |
POLAND | Polish | Ukranian |
PORTUGAL | Portuguese | PORTUGAL Portuguese |
ROMANIA | Romanian | Hungarian, German, Romani |
RUSSIA | Russian | Ukranian, Tatar |
SAMOA (Western) | Samoan | English |
SAUDI ARABIA | Arabic | |
SERBIA | Serbian | Croatian, Albanian |
SEYCHELLES | Creole | French, English |
SINGAPORE | Mandarin, Malay | Tamil, Hakka |
SLOVAK | Slovak | Hungarian |
SLOVENIA | Slovene | |
SOLOMON ISLAND | English | Pidgin, English |
SOMALIA | Somali | Arabic, Swahili |
SOUTH AFRICA | Afrikaans, English | Zulu, Xhosa, Sesotho |
SPAIN | Spanish (Castillian) | Catalan, Galicia, Basque, Valencia |
SRI LANKA | Sinhalese | Tamil |
SUDAN | Arabic | Nubian |
SWEDEN | Swedish | Finnish, Sami |
SWITZERLAND | German, French | Romansch |
SYRIA | Arabic | Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian |
TAIWAN | Mandarin | Taiwanese, Hakka |
THAILAND | Thai (Siamese) | Chinese dialects, Malay, Khmer |
TOKELAU | Samoan | Other local dialects |
TONGA | Tongan | |
TUNISIA | Arabic | French |
TURKEY | Turkish | Kurdish |
TUVALU | Tavaluan | Irikibati |
UKRAINE | Ukranian | Russian, Polish |
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | Arabic | |
URUGUAY | Spanish | |
VANUATU | Bislama, French | Other Melanesian languages |
VENEZUELA | Spanish | Native American Indian languages |
VIETNAM | Vietnamese | Cantonese, Khmer, Teo Chiew |
YEMEN | Arabic | |
ZIMBABWE | English, Shone | Other languages and dialects |