Language > Languages > Note: Countries Compared
DEFINITION:
This entry provides a rank ordering of languages starting with the largest and sometimes includes the percent of total population speaking that language.
COUNTRY |
DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| American SamoaAmerican Samoa | most people are bilingual (2000 census) |
| ChinaChina | Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet) |
| DenmarkDenmark | English is the predominant second language |
| East TimorEast Timor | there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people |
| European UnionEuropean Union | 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 |
| GeorgiaGeorgia | Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia |
| MalaysiaMalaysia | in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan |
| Marshall IslandsMarshall Isl. | English (official), widely spoken as a second language |
| NepalNepal | many in government and business also speak English (2001 est.) |
| New ZealandNew Zealand | shares sum to 114.6% due to multiple responses on census |
| NicaraguaNicaragua | English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
| Papua New GuineaPapua NG | 820 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world's total) |
| Serbia and MontenegroSerbia+ | Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Croatian all official in Vojvodina; Albanian official in Kosovo |
| Sri LankaSri Lanka | English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| SudanSudan | program of "Arabization" in process |
| SwitzerlandSwitzerland | German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official languages |
| TanzaniaTanzania | 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 |
| TurkeyTurkey | there is also a substantial Gagauz population in the European part of Turkey |
| United StatesUnited States | Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii |