Compare Languages (2002) - Languages (2006)

Compare Languages (2002) with Languages (2006)

Show all fields

	Languages (2002)	Languages (2006)
Afghanistan	Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism	Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashtu (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
Akrotiri	-	English, Greek
Albania	Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek	Albanian (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani, Slavic dialects
American Samoa	Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), English note: most people are bilingual	Samoan 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)
Armenia	Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2%	Armenian 97.7%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001 census)
Australia	English, native languages	English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)
Austria	German	German (official nationwide), Slovene (official in Carinthia), Croatian (official in Burgenland), Hungarian (official in Burgenland)
Bahamas, The	English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)	English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian	Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Botswana	English (official), Setswana	Setswana 78.2%, Kalanga 7.9%, Sekgalagadi 2.8%, English 2.1% (official), other 8.6%, unspecified 0.4% (2001 census)
Bulgaria	Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown	Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
Canada	English 59.3% (official), French 23.2% (official), other 17.5%	English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
Congo, Republic of the	French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo has the most users)	French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread)
Costa Rica	Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon	Spanish (official), English
Croatia	Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German)	Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census)
Dhekelia	-	English, Greek
East Timor	Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English note: there are a total of about 16 indigenous languages, of which Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people	Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people
Eritrea	Afar, Amharic, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages	Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Estonia	Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other	Estonian (official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000 census)
European Union	-	Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are listed; Irish (Gaelic) will become the 21st language on 1 January 2007
Fiji	English (official), Fijian, Hindustani	English (official), Fijian (official), Hindustani
Finland	Finnish 93.4% (official), Swedish 5.9% (official), small Lapp- and Russian-speaking minorities	Finnish 92% (official), Swedish 5.6% (official), other 2.4% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)
French Polynesia	French (official), Tahitian (official)	French 61.1% (official), Polynesian 31.4% (official), Asian languages 1.2%, other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census)
Gaza Strip	Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)	Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Guam	English, Chamorro, Japanese	English 38.3%, Chamorro 22.2%, Philippine languages 22.2%, other Pacific island languages 6.8%, Asian languages 7%, other languages 3.5% (2000 census)
Guinea	French (official), each ethnic group has its own language	French (official); note - each ethnic group has its own language
Hungary	Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%	Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census)
Ireland	English is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard	English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (official) (Gaelic or Gaeilge) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Jersey	English (official), French (official), Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts	English 94.5% (official), Portuguese 4.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census)
Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz - official language, Russian - official language note: in December 2001, the Kyrgyzstani legislature made Russian an official language, equal in status to Kyrgyz	Kyrgyz (official), Russian (official)
Latvia	Latvian (official), Lithuanian, Russian, other	Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
Lithuania	Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian	Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
Macau	Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese)	Cantonese 87.9%, Hokkien 4.4%, Mandarin 1.6%, other Chinese dialects 3.1%, other 3% (2001 census)
Macedonia	-	Macedonian 66.5%, Albanian 25.1%, Turkish 3.5%, Roma 1.9%, Serbian 1.2%, other 1.8% (2002 census)
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of	Macedonian 70%, Albanian 21%, Turkish 3%, Serbo-Croatian 3%, other 3%	-
Malawi	English (official), Chichewa (official), other languages important regionally	Chichewa 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)
Malaysia	Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; note - in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan	Bahasa Melayu (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
Marshall Islands	English (widely spoken as a second language, both English and Marshallese are official languages), two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family, Japanese	Marshallese 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census) note: English widely spoken as a second language; both Marshallese and English are official languages
Mauritania	Hassaniya Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof (official), French	Arabic (official), Pulaar, Soninke, French, Hassaniya, Wolof
Mauritius	English (official), Creole, French (official), Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri	Creole 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)
Moldova	Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian (official), Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)	Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Montenegro	-	Serbian (Ijekavian dialect - official), Bosnian, Albanian, Croatian
Mozambique	Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects	Emakhuwa 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)
Namibia	English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama	English 7% (official), Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages (Oshivambo, Herero, Nama)
Nepal	Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in government and business also speak English (1995)	Nepali 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
Netherlands	Dutch	Dutch (official), Frisian (official)
Netherlands Antilles	Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English widely spoken, Spanish	Papiamento 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)
Nicaragua	Spanish (official) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast	Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
Northern Mariana Islands	English, Chamorro, Carolinian note: 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home	Philippine languages 24.4%, Chinese 23.4%, Chamorro 22.4%, English 10.8%, other Pacific island languages 9.5%, other 9.6% (2000 census)
Norway	Norwegian (official) note: small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities	Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities; note - Sami is official in six municipalities
Palau	English and Palauan official in all states except Sonsoral (Sonsorolese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official)	Palauan 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)
Panama	Spanish (official), English 14% note: many Panamanians bilingual	Spanish (official), English 14%; note - many Panamanians bilingual
Papua New Guinea	English spoken by 1%-2%, pidgin English widespread, Motu spoken in Papua region note: 715 indigenous languages	Melanesian 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)
Peru	Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara	Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages
Philippines	two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense	two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan
Poland	Polish	Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census)
Portugal	Portuguese	Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used)
Romania	Romanian, Hungarian, German	Romanian (official), Hungarian, German
Russia	Russian, other	Russian, many minority languages
Serbia	-	Serbian (official nationwide); Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Croatian (all official in Vojvodina); Albanian (official in Kosovo)
Serbia and Montenegro	Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%	-
Seychelles	English (official), French (official), Creole	Creole 91.8%, English 4.9% (official), other 3.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2002 census)
Singapore	Chinese (official), Malay (official and national), Tamil (official), English (official)	Mandarin 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)
Slovakia	Slovak (official), Hungarian	Slovak (official) 83.9%, Hungarian 10.7%, Roma 1.8%, Ukrainian 1%, other or unspecified 2.6% (2001 census)
Slovenia	Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 6%, other 3%	Slovenian 91.1%, Serbo-Croatian 4.5%, other or unspecified 4.4% (2002 census)
South Africa	11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu	IsiZulu 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)
Spain	Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%	Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%; note - Castilian is the official language nationwide; the other languages are official regionally
Svalbard	Russian, Norwegian	Norwegian, Russian
Sweden	Swedish note: small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities	Swedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Switzerland	German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 19.2%, Italian (official) 7.6%, Romansch 0.6%, other 8.9%	German (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 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official languages
Tanzania	Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju (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, and it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages	Kiswahili 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, and it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages
Turkey	Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek	Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardian note: there is also a substantial Gagauz population in the Europe part of Turkey
Ukraine	Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian	Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities
United States	English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)	English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
Vanuatu	three official languages: English, French, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama), plus more than 100 local languages	local 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)
Virgin Islands	English (official), Spanish, Creole	English 74.7%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%, French or French Creole 6.6%, other 1.9% (2000 census)
Wallis and Futuna	French, Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language)	Wallisian 58.9% (indigenous Polynesian language), Futunian 30.1%, French 10.8%, other 0.2% (2003 census)
World	Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.) note: percents are for "first language" speakers only	Mandarin Chinese 13.69%, Spanish 5.05%, English 4.84%, Hindi 2.82%, Portuguese 2.77%, Bengali 2.68%, Russian 2.27%, Japanese 1.99%, Standard German 1.49%, Wu Chinese 1.21% (2004 est.) note: percents are for "first language" speakers only