List of countries where English is an official language
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The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where English is an official language, in order of population. Several of these nations, like India, Canada and the Philippines, use English as an official language but not the sole official language. However, many people from countries in this list do not speak English at all, like India.
This list also includes countries where English is the dominant language, but does not have official status. In Australia, English is spoken by the vast majority of the population and is the only language used in government institutions, yet Australia does not have an official language. This is the same in the U.S. and the UK, although some states or regions within the UK and the U.S. have English as an official language.
The status of English as a country's official language does not necessarily correlate with the number of English-speakers in that country. India, for example, with a population of 1.1 billion, has fewer than 200,000 native speakers of English and approximately 100 million second-language English speakers (who form less than 10% of its population). Nigeria on the other hand, has a small percentage of Standard English second-language speakers; however, more than 60% of its population speaks Nigerian Pidgin English, which although not a dialect of English, does contain many English words and possesses an English-like grammatical structure.
Almost all of these countries are current or former colonies or dependencies of the UK (see also British Empire) or the United States (which also started as a British colony). The notable exception is Madagascar, which is a former French colony with English speaking neighbors.
India's linguistic picture is complex. According to the Constitution of India, "Hindi in the Devanagari script" is the official language of the union[1] and English the 'subsidiary official language';[2] however, English is mandated for the authoritative texts of all federal laws and Supreme Court decisions, and (along with Hindi) is one of the two languages of the Indian Parliament. See Official languages of India.
These nations total 2.135 billion people, cover 15,583,152 square miles, and have a combined GDP of about 18 trillion US dollars.
Contents |
[edit] Sovereign states
[edit] Dependent entities
[edit] See also
- List of countries by English-speaking population
- Anglosphere
- List of countries by spoken languages
- List of countries where French is an official language
- List of countries where Portuguese is an official language
- List of countries where Spanish is an official language
| The Anglosphere |
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Dark blue: Countries and territories where English is the official, de facto official or primary national language. Light blue: countries (in the case of Quebec: province) where English is an official language but not primary. English is also one of the official languages of the European Union. Click on the coloured regions to get to the related article: <imagemap> Image:Anglospeak(800px).png|800px|English speaking countries poly 311 122 345 115 369 124 413 126 415 118 393 118 397 107 404 98 397 55 410 27 359 29 339 55 345 76 326 84 314 96 308 109 English language in Europe poly 89 33 62 54 67 58 70 62 70 66 66 71 64 78 62 75 61 85 69 86 72 84 133 85 146 88 149 94 153 94 152 97 150 103 174 95 172 91 167 89 167 81 166 74 169 66 156 59 165 50 173 50 182 49 190 48 200 47 206 53 214 54 226 39 210 24 229 16 253 3 192 8 127 22 Canadian English poly 196 48 177 56 168 73 168 81 167 90 173 94 184 90 202 89 217 78 200 75 200 72 206 69 209 59 Quebec English poly 211 55 206 70 198 69 199 75 204 77 215 78 214 80 207 87 187 90 187 96 190 98 224 87 224 68 Canadian English poly 89 31 58 58 40 60 6 71 6 62 32 36 58 30 87 29 Alaska#Languages circle 211 353 15 Falkland islands circle 142 173 13 Jamaican English rect 109 159 126 180 Languages of Belize poly 328 73 314 70 310 81 323 83 Hiberno-English rect 315 64 326 73 Mid Ulster English poly 326 58 326 68 328 72 325 84 336 83 345 76 337 59 British English poly 402 288 395 294 407 308 412 297 Lesotho poly 406 308 394 295 402 287 414 298 419 286 407 288 407 284 410 284 409 277 405 275 393 284 390 282 385 287 382 282 378 291 371 289 374 307 403 310 South African English poly 412 282 407 286 407 289 411 289 418 289 419 277 Swaziland#Languages poly 452 247 438 258 436 284 450 290 460 249 Madagascar#Language poly 299 202 311 192 306 187 293 190 Sierra Leone poly 299 204 310 194 318 199 312 211 Liberian English rect 324 183 338 210 Languages of Ghana poly 348 259 385 262 379 290 354 292 Namibia poly 397 264 386 263 381 279 384 287 388 280 392 283 403 276 Botswana poly 406 258 401 264 404 274 411 274 415 266 415 259 Zimbabwe poly 389 263 402 264 414 252 417 242 409 238 402 240 402 246 390 243 385 252 Zambia#Languages poly 414 238 413 254 420 262 426 255 422 244 Malawian English poly 429 227 416 219 409 219 405 228 407 237 418 241 424 246 442 246 441 227 Tanzania#Languages poly 399 215 410 221 404 228 395 224 Rwanda rect 644 245 421 220 Languages of Uganda poly 421 200 418 213 418 218 429 226 440 220 439 204 Languages of Kenya rect 386 152 425 202 Languages of Sudan poly 342 176 338 199 337 208 351 210 355 203 357 195 363 196 373 182 368 176 Languages of Nigeria poly 371 188 358 196 354 211 362 219 376 215 378 194 Cameroon English poly 515 121 505 123 511 130 504 139 502 143 504 148 492 163 475 153 470 132 499 109 508 108 516 114 Pakistani English poly 540 133 544 140 554 142 560 135 569 140 558 160 537 170 528 192 519 195 505 169 499 156 503 146 501 142 510 129 507 123 520 114 Indian English poly 543 133 544 142 551 145 557 137 555 129 546 130 Bhutan poly 665 323 636 312 582 316 593 256 651 244 689 245 710 285 700 317 Australian English rect 649 321 683 341 Tasmanian English poly 729 302 694 328 695 352 754 347 770 301 New Zealand English rect 682 213 737 254 Papua New Guinea poly 759 238 759 281 781 279 791 240 Fiji circle 511 202 12 Maldives rect 615 163 657 207 Languages of the Philippines circle 476 274 21 Mauritius#Language poly 143 138 139 151 159 162 168 153 159 140 Bahamian Dialect poly 69 85 135 86 154 93 156 100 190 87 194 92 181 99 157 125 143 133 142 147 139 149 127 139 100 149 38 122 55 87 United States English circle 320 261 20 Saint Helena rect 176 193 202 224 Guyana#Languages rect 164 156 175 178 Puerto Rico rect 175 156 198 193 Windward Islands and Leeward Islands circle 187 129 20 Bermudian English desc none </imagemap> |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The population figures are based on List of countries by population.
- ^ Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China
- ^ Puerto Rico is an unincorporated United States territory called a "Commonwealth"
- ^ Guam is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States
- ^ The US Virgin Islands is an insular area of the United States
- ^ Jersey is a British Crown dependency
- ^ The Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the United States
- ^ Isle Of Man is a British Crown dependency
- ^ Bermuda is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom
- ^ Guernsey is a British Crown dependency
- ^ American Samoa is an unincorporated U.S. territory
- ^ Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia
- ^ Pitcairn Islands is a British overseas territory
- ^ Widely spoken but not an official language
[edit] References
- ^ The Union: Official Language. National Informatics Centre (NIC) (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
- ^ Notification No. 2/8/60-O.L. (Ministry of Home Affairs), dated 27th April, 1960. Retrieved on July 4, 2007.
- ^ Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, Article XIV, Chanrobles Law Library, 1987, <http://www.chanrobles.com/article14language.htm>. Retrieved on 2007-10-27 (See Article XIV, Section 7)
ko:영어를 공용어로 사용하는 나라별 영어 사용자 수 nl:Lijst van landen waar Engels een officiële taal is zh:英语国家和地区列表
