Contents
List of multilingual countries and regions
This is an incomplete list of areas with either multilingualism at the community level or at the personal level. There is a distinction between social and personal bilingualism. Many countries, such as Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Finland, India, Ireland, South Africa and Switzerland, which are officially multilingual, may have many monolinguals in their population. Officially monolingual countries, on the other hand, such as France, can have sizable multilingual populations. Some countries have official languages but also have regional and local official languages, notably Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Spain and Taiwan.
Africa
Central Africa
East Africa
Horn of Africa
North Africa
Southern Africa
West Africa
America
Caribbean
Central America
North America
South America
English is co-official in San Andres and Providencia.
Asia
Central Asia
Kazakhstan
Kazakh and Russian both have official status—Kazakh as the "state" language and Russian as "officially used on equal grounds along with the Kazakh language". Kazakhstan is taking its huge step into multilingualism by accepting the trilingualism policy and making changes in law. Former president Nursultan Nazarbaev noted that "The multinationality and multilingualism are one of the values and the main feature of our state. "Dariga Nazarbayeva, then deputy prime minister and daughter of the then president, said in February 2016 that Kazakh children should learn Chinese in addition to Kazakh, Russian and English. “China is our friend, our trading partner and the biggest investor in the economy of our country", she said. "In the near future, we all need to know Chinese.”
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz is the state language and Russian "used in the capacity of an official language".
Tajikistan
Tajik as the state language and Russian, designated as language of interethnic communication in the constitution, are widely spoken.
Uzbekistan
In Uzbekistan, Uzbek (official), Tajik, and Russian are all widely spoken. Use of Russian (alongside Uzbek) is foreseen for notarized documents and civic records
Karakalpakstan
In the autonomous Karakalpakstan, Karakalpak is an official one, alongside Uzbek.
East Asia
North Asia
South Asia
Southeast Asia
Western Asia
Europe
Central Europe
Low German is recognized as a regional language in at least five north German states. Lower Sorbian is an official minority language in Brandenburg, Upper Sorbian in Saxony, Sater Frisian in a part of Lower Saxony, and North Frisian varieties and Danish in Schleswig-Holstein. A language without its own territory, Romany (including the language of the Sinte people) is an official minority language as well. Germany is home to large numbers of people from other regions, and some of their languages, such as Turkish, Russian, and Polish, are widely used throughout the country. However, those languages are considered foreign and thus are given no official status.
Eastern Europe
Northern Europe
Southern Europe
Southeastern Europe
Southwestern Europe
Western Europe
Oceania
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