WORLD LANGUAGES BY COUNTRY
Alphabetical List A to G
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Afghanistan
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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.
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Albania
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Albanian
(official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek, Vlach, Romani,
Slavic dialects
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Algeria
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Arabic
(official), French, Berber dialects
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American Samoa
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Samoan 90.6%
(closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages),
English 2.9%, Tongan 2.4%, other Pacific islander 2.1%, other
2%
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Andorra
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Catalan
(official), French, Castilian, Portuguese
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Angola
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Portuguese
(official), Bantu and other African languages
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Anguilla
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English
(official)
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Antigua and Barbuda
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English
(official), local dialects
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Argentina
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Spanish
(official), English, Italian, German, French
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Armenia
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Armenian
97.7%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001
census)
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Aruba
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Dutch
(official), Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English
dialect), English (widely spoken), Spanish.
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Australia
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English
79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8%
(2001 Census)
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Austria
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German
(official nationwide), Slovene (official in Carinthia), Croatian
(official in Burgenland), Hungarian (official in
Burgenland).
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Azerbaijan
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Azerbaijani
(Azeri) 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other 6% (1995
est.)
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Bahamas, The
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English
(official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)
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Bahrain
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Arabic,
English, Farsi, Urdu
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Bangladesh
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Bangla
(official, also known as Bengali), English
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Barbados
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English
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Belarus
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Belarusian,
Russian, other
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Belgium
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Dutch
(official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less
than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French).
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Belize
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English
(official), Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), Creole
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Benin
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French
(official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south),
tribal languages (at least six major ones in north).
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Bermuda
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English
(official), Portuguese
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Bhutan
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Dzongkha
(official), Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects, Nepalese speak
various Nepalese dialects
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Bolivia
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Spanish
(official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official)
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Bosnia and
Herzegovina
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Bosnian,
Croatian, Serbian
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Botswana
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Setswana
78.2%, Kalanga 7.9%, Sekgalagadi 2.8%, English 2.1% (official),
other 8.6%, unspecified 0.4% (2001 census).
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Brazil
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Portuguese
(official), Spanish, English, French
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British Virgin Islands
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English
(official)
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Brunei
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Malay
(official), English, Chinese
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Bulgaria
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Bulgarian
84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001
census)
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Burkina Faso
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French
(official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family
spoken by 90% of the population
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Burma (Myanmar)
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Burmese,
minority ethnic groups have their own languages
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Burundi
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Kirundi
(official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and
in the Bujumbura area)
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Cambodia
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Khmer
(official) 95%, French, English
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Cameroon
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24 major
African language groups, English (official), French
(official)
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Canada
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English
(official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
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Cabo Verde
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Portuguese,
Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)
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Cayman Islands
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English
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Central African Republic
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French
(official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal
languages
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Chad
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French
(official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120
different languages and dialects
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Chile
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Spanish
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China
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Standard
Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect),
Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan
(Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority
languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
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Christmas Island
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English
(official), Chinese, Malay
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Cocos (Keeling) Islands
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Malay (Cocos
dialect), English
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Colombia
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Spanish
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Comoros
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Arabic
(official), French (official), Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and
Arabic)
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Congo, Democratic Republic of the
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French
(official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a
dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
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Congo, Republic of the
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French
(official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade
languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo
is the most widespread)
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Cook Islands
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English
(official), Maori
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Costa Rica
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Spanish
(official), English
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Croatia
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Croatian
96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including
Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001
census)
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Cuba
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Spanish
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Cyprus
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Greek,
Turkish, English
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Czech Republic
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Czech
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Côte d'Ivoire
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French
(official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely
spoken
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Denmark
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Danish,
Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small
minority)
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Djibouti
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French
(official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
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Dominica
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English
(official), French patois
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Dominican Republic
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Spanish
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East Timor
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Tetum
(official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English
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Ecuador
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Spanish
(official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
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Egypt
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Arabic
(official), English and French widely understood by educated
classes
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El Salvador
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Spanish,
Nahua (among some Amerindians)
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Equatorial Guinea
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Spanish
(official), French (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi,
Ibo
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Eritrea
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Afar, Arabic,
Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
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Estonia
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Estonian
(official) 67.3%, Russian 29.7%, other 2.3%, unknown 0.7% (2000
census)
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Ethiopia
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Amharic,
Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, other local
languages, English (major foreign language taught in
schools)
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Falkland Islands (Islas
Malvinas)
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English
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Faroe Islands
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Faroese
(derived from Old Norse), Danish
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Fiji
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English
(official), Fijian, Hindustani
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Finland
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Finnish 92%
(official), Swedish 5.6% (official), other 2.4% (small Sami- and
Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)
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France
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French 100%,
rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal,
Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
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French Guiana
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French
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French Polynesia
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French 61.1%
(official), Polynesian 31.4% (official), Asian languages 1.2%,
other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census)
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Gabon
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French
(official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira,
Bandjabi
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Gambia, The
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English
(official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous
vernaculars
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Gaza Strip
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Arabic,
Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians),
English (widely understood)
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Georgia
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Georgian 71%
(official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other
7%
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Germany
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German
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Ghana
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English
(official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba,
Ewe, and Ga)
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Gibraltar
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English (used
in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian,
Portuguese
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Greece
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Greek 99%
(official), English, French
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Greenland
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Greenlandic
(East Inuit), Danish, English
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Grenada
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English
(official), French patois
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Guadeloupe
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French
(official) 99%, Creole patois
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Guam
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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)
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Guatemala
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Spanish 60%,
Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian
languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna,
and Xinca)
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Guernsey
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English,
French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country
districts
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Guinea
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French
(official), each ethnic group has its own language
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Guinea-Bissau
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Portuguese
(official), Crioulo, African languages
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Guyana
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English,
Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu
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next countries
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Languages by Country: H - O
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Languages by Country: H - O
| Languages by Country: P - Z
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Internet Usage in the World by
Language
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Tallying the number of
speakers of the world’s languages is an increasingly
complex task, particularly with the push in many countries for
teaching English in their public schools. Many people are indeed
bilingual or multilingual, but here we assign only one
language per person in order to have all the languages total add
up to the total world population (zero-sum approach).
Very few countries have
100% literacy. Six countries worth mentioning are
Australia, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and
Norway. Regarding children, most are an excellent example of
Internet "early adopters" (when they are given the chance to
surf). In the Internet penetration rate calculations no
adjustments have been made regarding infants or
illiteracy.
From the statistics it is
evident here that with just ten languages - English,
Chinese Mandarin, Spanish,
Arabic,
Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, Malay ,
French, - and German,
you can reach and communicate with 73.6% of all the
Internet users in the world, a very impresive
percentage.
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