Although official languages differ from country to country, it is generally considered the language of the state. In other words, the language or one of the languages with special legal status in a country is used for official purposes.
Official languages can be ‘de jure’ or ‘de facto’. 'De jure' means that there is a law that makes a language official. For example, the official language of Turkey is Turkish and this is legally accepted. 'De facto' are languages used by the government in a country but not legally recognized. For example, in Australia, although the language of the government is English, English is not legally accepted as an official language.
The 10 most used official languages in the world are listed below.
1. English – 75 Countries
Antigua and Barbuda • Anguilla • Australia • Barbados • Belize • Bermuda • Botswana • British Virgin Islands • Burundi • Cameroon • Canada • Cayman Islands • Cook Islands • Curaçao • Dominica • Eritrea • Esvatini • Falkland Islands • Federated States of Micronesia • Fiji • Gambia • Ghana • Gibraltar • Grenada • Guam • Guernsey • Guyana • Hong Kong • India • Isle of Man • Ireland • Jamaica • Jersey • Kenya • Kiribati • Lesotho • Liberia • Malawi • Malta • Marshall Islands • Mauritius • Montserrat • Namibia • Nauru • New Zealand • Nigeria • Niue • Pakistan • Palau • Papua New Guinea • Philippines • Puerto Rico • Rwanda • Saint Kitts and Nevis • Saint Lucia • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines • Samoa • Seychelles • Sierra Leone • Singapore • Solomon Islands • South Africa • Southern Sudan • Sudan • Tanzania • The Bahamas • Tonga • Trinidad and Toba • Turks and Caicos Islands • Tuvalu • Uganda • United Kingdom • United States • Vanuatu • Zambia • Zimbabwe
2. French – 33 Countries
Belgium • Benin • Burkina Faso • Burundi • Cameroon • Canada • Chad • Central African Republic • Comoros • Ivory Coast • Djibouti • Democratic Republic of the Congo • Equatorial Guinea • France • French Polynesia • Gabon • Guernsey • Guinea • Haiti • Luxembourg • Madagascar • Mali • Monaco • New Caledonia • New Zealand • Niger • Republic of the Congo • Rwanda • Senegal • Seychelles • Switzerland • Togo • Vanuatu
3. Arabic – 24 Countries
Algeria • Bahrain • Chad • Comoros • Djibouti • Egypt • Eritrea • Iraq • Jordan • Kuwait • Lebanon • Libya • Mauritania • Morocco • Oman • Palestine • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Somalia • Sudan • Syria • Tunisia • United Arab Emirates • Yemen
5. Spanish – 21 Countries
Argentina • Bolivia • Chile • Colombia • Costa Rica • Cuba • Dominican Republic • Ecuador • El Salvador • Equatorial Guinea • Guatemala • Honduras • Mexico • Nicaragua • Panama • Paraguay • Peru • Puerto Rico • Spain • Uruguay • Venezuela
5. Portuguese – 10 Countries
Angola • Brazil • Cape Verde Islands • East Timor • Equatorial Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Macau • Mozambique • Portugal • São Tomé and Príncipe
6. German – 6 Countries
Austria • Belgium • Germany • Luxembourg • Liechtenstein • Switzerland
7. Russian – 5 Countries
Belarus • Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Russia • Tajikistan
8. Swahili – 5 Countries
Democratic Republic of the Congo • Kenya • Rwanda • Tanzania • Uganda
9. Malay – 4 Countries
Brunei • Indonesia • Malaysia • Singapore
10. Italian – 4 Countries
Italy • San Marino • Switzerland • Vatican City
