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 |