Languages of the World – Part 2
We continue a six part (week) series blog series this week that will cover all the countries of the world and the dominant languages within those countries. This data is meant to improve identifying and selecting target languages when considering a geographical area to market/translate into. For this second post, we have 41 countries ranging from Central African Republic to Germany. All of these numbers and facts can be attributed to research done in the CIA’s World Factbook. Please note: This list is in no way meant to be an exporting destination guide as not all listed countries are cleared by The U.S. Government for international trade.
Central African Republic
French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), and some tribal languages
Chad
French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in the south), more than 120 different languages and dialects beyond these top few
Chile
Spanish (official), Mapudungun, German, and English
China
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and other minority languages
Christmas Island
English (official), Chinese, and Malay
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Malay (Cocos dialect), and English
Colombia
Spanish
Comoros
Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, and Tshiluba
Congo, Republic of the
French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), and many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)
Cook Islands
English (official), and Maori
Costa Rica
Spanish (official), and English
Cote d’Ivoire
French (official) and 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken
Croatia
Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and un-designated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German according to a 2001 census)
Cuba
Spanish
Cyprus
Greek, Turkish, and English
Czech Republic
Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (from a 2001 census)
Denmark
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority); note: English is the predominant second language
Dhekelia
English and Greek
Djibouti
French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, and Afar
Dominica
English (official) and French patois
Dominican Republic
Spanish
Ecuador
Spanish (official) and Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
Egypt
Arabic (official) while English and French is widely understood by educated classes
El Salvador
Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Equatorial Guinea
Spanish 67.6% (official), other 32.4% (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) (1994 census)
Eritrea
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, and other Cushitic languages
Estonia
Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000 census)
Ethiopia
Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, and English (major foreign language taught in schools) (1994 census)
European Union
Bulgarian, 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 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 Islands
Faroese (derived from Old Norse) and Danish
Fiji
English (official), Fijian (official), and Hindustani
Finland
Finnish 91.2% (official), Swedish 5.5% (official), other 3.3% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2007)
France
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
French Polynesia
French 61.1% (official), Polynesian 31.4% (official), Asian languages 1.2%, other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census)
Gabon
French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, and Bandjabi
Gambia, The
English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, and other indigenous vernaculars
Gaza Strip
Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Georgia
Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7% note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia
Germany
German
Next Week – Ghana to Lebanon!
