List of Multilingual Countries and Regions - Americas

Americas

• Argentina has several ethnic communities of European (esp. the Welsh language in Patagonia), Asian and indigenous origins (the Andean and northeast regions), who speak their own languages, but Spanish is the sole official language of the country.
• Belize: English, Spanish and Mayan languages have some official usage, although the legacy of British rule emphasized English to be most commonly used.
• Bolivia is officially multilingual, supporting Spanish and 36 native languages.
• Brazil, Portuguese (official) and upwards to 100 languages spoken mainly in the urban areas (European and Asian) and indigenous languages in the Amazon.
• Canada is officially bilingual under the Official Languages Act and the Constitution of Canada that require the federal government to deliver services in both official languages. As well, minority language rights are guaranteed where numbers warrant. 59.3% of the population speak English as their first language while 22.9% are native speakers of French. The remaining population belong to some of Canada's many immigrant populations or to the indigenous population. See Bilingualism in Canada
  • The Canadian province of New Brunswick, with a large Acadian population (33% French-speaking).
  • The Canadian province of Quebec, (7.9% English-speaking) Note: Although there is a relatively sizable English-speaking population in Quebec, French is the only official language. At the same time, most government services are available in English and French.
  • There are also significant French language minorities in the provinces of Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. Though these provinces are not officially bilingual they do provide a number of services in French.
  • Nunavut is a Canadian territory with a population that is 85% Inuit. Its official languages are the Inuit dialects of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun as well as English and French.
  • In many of Canada's First Nations' communities in the more isolated regions, aboriginal languages are retained. English and French are accepted in the community at the community elders' discretion.
  • In the 2006 Canadian census, information and questions are available in sixty-two languages, including eighteen First Nations languages.
• Chile declared Spanish the official language. The Chilean constitution in 2006 ratified to permit the official usage of four indigenous languages: Aimara, Mapudungun, Quechua and Rapa Nui (Easter Island in Polynesia) in certain regions and communities. In the southern portion, there is a sizable but bilingual German-speaking population.
• Colombia Spanish (official), but Andean indigenous languages can be found and Afro-Caribbean languages with the Choco region on the Pacific coast.
• Ecuador defines Spanish as its official language, but Spanish, Quechua and Shuar — as official languages of intercultural relations in the Article 2 of the 2008 Constitution.
• In Guatemala, the official language is Spanish, however, there are 23 distinct Mayan languages. Not all Guatemalans speak Spanish, while some may do so only as a second or third language.
• Guyana, English (official), Hindi languages, Chinese languages, indigenous languages and a small Portuguese-speaking community.
• Honduras: Spanish is the official language, despite Afro-Caribbean English and indigenous languages can be found in the rural outskirts of the country.
• In Mexico, the government recognizes 62 indigenous languages, including Nahuatl spoken by more than 1.5 million people and Aquacatec spoken by 27 people, along with Spanish. There is no official language at the federal level, although Spanish is the de facto state language.
• In Nicaragua, even while Spanish is the official language spoken broadwide (almost 95%, according to some sources), there are other de facto languages such as Creole, Miskitu, Rama language and Mayangna (Sumu) in their own linguistic communities.
• In the (former) Netherlands Antilles, where Dutch is the official language, but most inhabitants of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire are multilingual and speak Papiamento, Dutch and sometimes English and Spanish. Most inhabitants are fluent in all four.
• Paraguay, 48% of its population is bilingual in Guaraní and Spanish (both official languages of the Republic), of whom 37% speak only Guaraní and 8% only Spanish but the latter increases with the use of Jopará. There is a large Mennonite German colony in the Gran Chaco province as well.
• Peru's official languages are Spanish and, in the zones where they are predominant, Quechua, Aymara, and other aboriginal languages.
• Puerto Rico's official languages are Spanish and English, yet 85 percent of its inhabitants reported that they did not speak English "very well."
• In Suriname, Dutch, Sranan, and English are spoken by almost everyone. In addition, various Chinese and Indian languages are spoken.
• In the United States, at the federal level, there is no official language, although there have been efforts to make English the official language.
  • The US states of Louisiana and Maine are unofficially bilingual (de facto) in English and French.
  • The US state of Hawaii is officially bilingual in English and Hawaiian.
  • Three US territories are also bilingual: American Samoa (Samoan and English), Guam (English and Chamorro), and Puerto Rico (Spanish and English). One US territory is trilingual: Northern Marianas Islands (English, Chamorro, and Carolinian).
  • In US, states with a large historic (New Spain) and recently arrived Spanish speaking population such as California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida will often provide government services at the municipal level in Spanish as well as English. For example in Florida, Hialeah recognizes both English and Spanish while Miami recognizes English and Spanish as official government languages.
  • Some Indian Reservations in the US have began to use indigenous languages of their tribal nations, but the official language of all the reservations is English.
• Uruguay has a large Italian-speaking minority although are proficient in Spanish and their border with Brazil has a mixed Portuguese-speaking presence.
• Venezuela has declared Spanish the official language, while there are some European and Arabic languages spoken in urban areas, Afro-Caribbean dialects in the Caribbean and indigenous languages spoken in the Guayana department.