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Home  »  The World Factbook, 2008  »  Languages

The World Factbook. 2008.

Languages

CountryLanguages
AfghanistanAfghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashto (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
AkrotiriEnglish, Greek
AlbaniaAlbanian (official – derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects
AlgeriaArabic (official), French, Berber dialects
American SamoaSamoan 90.6% (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English 2.9%, Tongan 2.4%, other Pacific islander 2.1%, other 2%
note: most people are bilingual (2000 census)
AndorraCatalan (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese
AngolaPortuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages
AnguillaEnglish (official)
Antigua and BarbudaEnglish (official), local dialects
ArgentinaSpanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
ArmeniaArmenian 97.7%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001 census)
ArubaPapiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) 66.3%, Spanish 12.6%, English (widely spoken) 7.7%, Dutch (official) 5.8%, other 2.2%, unspecified or unknown 5.3% (2000 census)
AustraliaEnglish 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)
AustriaGerman (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene,official in Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 census)
AzerbaijanAzerbaijani (Azeri) 90.3%, Lezgi 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified 1% (1999 census)
Bahamas, TheEnglish (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
BahrainArabic, English, Farsi, Urdu
BangladeshBangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
BarbadosEnglish
BelarusBelarusian, Russian, other
BelgiumDutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)
BelizeSpanish 46%, Creole 32.9%, Mayan dialects 8.9%, English 3.9% (official), Garifuna 3.4% (Carib), German 3.3%, other 1.4%, unknown 0.2% (2000 census)
BeninFrench (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
BermudaEnglish (official), Portuguese
BhutanDzongkha (official), Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects, Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects
BoliviaSpanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnian, Croatian, Serbian
BotswanaSetswana 78.2%, Kalanga 7.9%, Sekgalagadi 2.8%, English 2.1% (official), other 8.6%, unspecified 0.4% (2001 census)
BrazilPortuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
British Virgin IslandsEnglish (official)
BruneiMalay (official), English, Chinese
BulgariaBulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
Burkina FasoFrench (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population
BurmaBurmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages
BurundiKirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)
CambodiaKhmer (official) 95%, French, English
Cameroon24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
CanadaEnglish (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
Cape VerdePortuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)
Cayman IslandsEnglish
Central African RepublicFrench (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages
ChadFrench (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects
ChileSpanish
ChinaStandard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Christmas IslandEnglish (official), Chinese, Malay
Cocos (Keeling) IslandsMalay (Cocos dialect), English
ColombiaSpanish
ComorosArabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic)
Congo, Democratic Republic of theFrench (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
Congo, Republic of theFrench (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)
Cook IslandsEnglish (official), Maori
Costa RicaSpanish (official), English
Cote d’IvoireFrench (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken
CroatiaCroatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census)
CubaSpanish
CyprusGreek, Turkish, English
Czech RepublicCzech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census)
DenmarkDanish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language
DhekeliaEnglish, Greek
DjiboutiFrench (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
DominicaEnglish (official), French patois
Dominican RepublicSpanish
EcuadorSpanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
EgyptArabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes
El SalvadorSpanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Equatorial GuineaSpanish 67.6% (official), other 32.4% (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) (1994 census)
EritreaAfar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
EstoniaEstonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000 census)
EthiopiaAmarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census)
European UnionBulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish
note: only official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, is the most widely spoken mother tongue – over 19% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language – about 49% of the EU population is conversant with it (2007)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)English
Faroe IslandsFaroese (derived from Old Norse), Danish
FijiEnglish (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani
FinlandFinnish 92% (official), Swedish 5.6% (official), other 2.4% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)
FranceFrench 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
overseas departments: French, Creole patois
French PolynesiaFrench 61.1% (official), Polynesian 31.4% (official), Asian languages 1.2%, other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census)
GabonFrench (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi
Gambia, TheEnglish (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars
Gaza StripArabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
GeorgiaGeorgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%
note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia
GermanyGerman
GhanaAsante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%, Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other 36.1% (includes English (official)) (2000 census)
GibraltarEnglish (used in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
GreeceGreek 99% (official), other 1% (includes English and French)
GreenlandGreenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English
GrenadaEnglish (official), French patois
GuamEnglish 38.3%, Chamorro 22.2%, Philippine languages 22.2%, other Pacific island languages 6.8%, Asian languages 7%, other languages 3.5% (2000 census)
GuatemalaSpanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)
GuernseyEnglish, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts
GuineaFrench (official); note – each ethnic group has its own language
Guinea-BissauPortuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
GuyanaEnglish, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Urdu
HaitiFrench (official), Creole (official)
Holy See (Vatican City)Italian, Latin, French, various other languages
HondurasSpanish, Amerindian dialects
Hong KongChinese (Cantonese) 89.2% (official), other Chinese dialects 6.4%, English 3.2% (official), other 1.2% (2001 census)
HungaryHungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census)
IcelandIcelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken
IndiaEnglish enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 21 other official languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanscrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language
IndonesiaBahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (the most widely spoken of which is Javanese)
IranPersian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
IraqArabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian
IrelandEnglish (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Isle of ManEnglish, Manx Gaelic
IsraelHebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language
ItalyItalian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d’Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
JamaicaEnglish, English patois
JapanJapanese
JerseyEnglish 94.5% (official), Portuguese 4.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census)
JordanArabic (official), English widely understood among upper and middle classes
KazakhstanKazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the “language of interethnic communication”) 95% (2001 est.)
KenyaEnglish (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages
KiribatiI-Kiribati, English (official)
Korea, NorthKorean
Korea, SouthKorean, English widely taught in junior high and high school
KosovoAlbanian, Bosniak, Serbian, Turkish
KosovoAlbanian, Serbian, Bosniak, Turkish
KuwaitArabic (official), English widely spoken
KyrgyzstanKyrgyz 64.7% (official), Uzbek 13.6%, Russian 12.5% (official), Dungun 1%, other 8.2% (1999 census)
LaosLao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages
LatviaLatvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
LebanonArabic (official), French, English, Armenian
LesothoSesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
LiberiaEnglish 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence
LibyaArabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities
LiechtensteinGerman (official), Alemannic dialect
LithuaniaLithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
LuxembourgLuxembourgish (national language), German (administrative language), French (administrative language)
MacauCantonese 87.9%, Hokkien 4.4%, Mandarin 1.6%, other Chinese dialects 3.1%, other 3% (2001 census)
MacedoniaMacedonian 66.5%, Albanian 25.1%, Turkish 3.5%, Roma 1.9%, Serbian 1.2%, other 1.8% (2002 census)
MadagascarEnglish (official), French (official), Malagasy (official)
MalawiChichewa 57.2% (official), Chinyanja 12.8%, Chiyao 10.1%, Chitumbuka 9.5%, Chisena 2.7%, Chilomwe 2.4%, Chitonga 1.7%, other 3.6% (1998 census)
MalaysiaBahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
note: in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
MaldivesMaldivian Dhivehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials
MaliFrench (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages
MaltaMaltese (official), English (official)
Marshall IslandsMarshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census)
note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language
MauritaniaArabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, French, Hassaniya, Wolof
MauritiusCreole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)
MayotteMahorian (a Swahili dialect), French (official language) spoken by 35% of the population
MexicoSpanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages
Micronesia, Federated States ofEnglish (official and common language), Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi
MoldovaMoldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
MonacoFrench (official), English, Italian, Monegasque
MongoliaKhalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999)
MontenegroSerbian (official; Ijekavian dialect), Bosnian, Albanian, Croatian
MontserratEnglish
MoroccoArabic (official), Berber dialects, French often the language of business, government, and diplomacy
MozambiqueEmakhuwa 26.1%, Xichangana 11.3%, Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language), Elomwe 7.6%, Cisena 6.8%, Echuwabo 5.8%, other Mozambican languages 32%, other foreign languages 0.3%, unspecified 1.3% (1997 census)
NamibiaEnglish 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages 1% (includes Oshivambo, Herero, Nama)
NauruNauruan (official; a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes
NepalNepali 47.8%, Maithali 12.1%, Bhojpuri 7.4%, Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.6%, Magar 3.3%, Awadhi 2.4%, other 10%, unspecified 2.5% (2001 census)
note: many in government and business also speak English (2001 est.)
NetherlandsDutch (official), Frisian (official)
Netherlands AntillesPapiamento 65.4% (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect), English 15.9% (widely spoken), Dutch 7.3% (official), Spanish 6.1%, Creole 1.6%, other 1.9%, unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
New CaledoniaFrench (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
New ZealandEnglish (official), Maori (official), Sign Language (official)
NicaraguaSpanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
NigerFrench (official), Hausa, Djerma
NigeriaEnglish (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani
NiueNiuean, a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan; English
Norfolk IslandEnglish (official), Norfolk – a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian
Northern Mariana IslandsPhilippine languages 24.4%, Chinese 23.4%, Chamorro 22.4%, English 10.8%, other Pacific island languages 9.5%, other 9.6% (2000 census)
NorwayBokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities; note – Sami is official in six municipalities
OmanArabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects
PakistanPunjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu (official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski and other 8%
PalauPalauan 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official), Filipino 13.5%, English 9.4%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.5%, other Asian 2.3%, other languages 1.5% (2000 census)
PanamaSpanish (official), English 14%; note – many Panamanians bilingual
Papua New GuineaMelanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, English spoken by 1%-2%, Motu spoken in Papua region
note: 820 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world’s total)
ParaguaySpanish (official), Guarani (official)
PeruSpanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages
PhilippinesFilipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official); eight major dialects – Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan
Pitcairn IslandsEnglish (official), Pitkern (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect)
PolandPolish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census)
PortugalPortuguese (official), Mirandese (official – but locally used)
Puerto RicoSpanish, English
QatarArabic (official), English commonly used as a second language
RomaniaRomanian 91% (official), Hungarian 6.7%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 1.2%
RussiaRussian, many minority languages
RwandaKinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers
Saint BarthelemyFrench (primary), English
Saint HelenaEnglish
Saint Kitts and NevisEnglish
Saint LuciaEnglish (official), French patois
Saint MartinFrench (official language), English, Dutch, French Patois, Spanish, Papiamento (dialect of Netherlands Antilles)
Saint Pierre and MiquelonFrench (official)
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesEnglish, French patois
SamoaSamoan (Polynesian), English
San MarinoItalian
Sao Tome and PrincipePortuguese (official)
Saudi ArabiaArabic
SenegalFrench (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka
SerbiaSerbian 88.3% (official), Hungarian 3.8%, Bosniak 1.8%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 4.1%, unknown 0.9% (2002 census)
note: Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Croatian all official in Vojvodina
SeychellesCreole 91.8%, English 4.9% (official), other 3.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2002 census)
Sierra LeoneEnglish (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)
SingaporeMandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census)
SlovakiaSlovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census)
SloveniaSlovenian 91.1%, Serbo-Croatian 4.5%, other or unspecified 4.4% (2002 census)
Solomon IslandsMelanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
SomaliaSomali (official), Arabic, Italian, English
South AfricaIsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (2001 census)
SpainCastilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally
Sri LankaSinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population
SudanArabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
note: program of “Arabization” in process
SurinameDutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese
SvalbardNorwegian, Russian
SwazilandEnglish (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)
SwedenSwedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
SwitzerlandGerman (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)
note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages
SyriaArabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
TaiwanMandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
TajikistanTajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business
TanzaniaKiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources including Arabic and English; it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages
ThailandThai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects
Timor-LesteTetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English
note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people
TogoFrench (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north)
TokelauTokelauan (a Polynesian language), English
TongaTongan, English
Trinidad and TobagoEnglish (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese
TunisiaArabic (official and one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce)
TurkeyTurkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardian
note: there is also a substantial Gagauz population in the European part of Turkey
TurkmenistanTurkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Turks and Caicos IslandsEnglish (official)
TuvaluTuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
UgandaEnglish (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic
UkraineUkrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, other 9% (includes small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities)
United Arab EmiratesArabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu
United KingdomEnglish, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
United StatesEnglish 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
UruguaySpanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier)
UzbekistanUzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%
Vanuatulocal languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English 1.9%, French 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census)
VenezuelaSpanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects
VietnamVietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
Virgin IslandsEnglish 74.7%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%, French or French Creole 6.6%, other 1.9% (2000 census)
Wallis and FutunaWallisian 58.9% (indigenous Polynesian language), Futunian 30.1%, French 10.8%, other 0.2% (2003 census)
West BankArabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Western SaharaHassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
WorldMandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, Wu Chinese 1.17% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for “first language” speakers only
YemenArabic
ZambiaEnglish (official), major vernaculars – Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
ZimbabweEnglish (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects