List of Multilingual Countries and Regions - Multilingual Cities

Multilingual Cities

In many cities around the globe, a majority of the population frequently speaks two or more languages. There are also large cities with high numbers of immigrants such as Amsterdam; London; New York; Paris; Sydney; and Vancouver, where dozens of languages can be heard, but the majority of the population are monolingual.

There are many more cities of multilingual speakers where multilingualism a part of everyday life.

The following list is an example:

• A Coruña, Galicia, Spain — Spanish and Galician.
• Accra, Ghana — English, Akan, and Ga.
• Ahmedabad, India — English, Hindi, and Gujarati.
• Alghero, Sardinia, Italy — Italian and Algherese (Catalan).
• Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain — Spanish and Valencian (Catalan).
• Andorra la Vella, Andorra — Catalan (official), Spanish, Portuguese, French and Occitan.
• Aosta, Italy — Italian, French and Franco-Provencal language.
• Batam, Indonesia — Indonesian, Batak, Minang, Javanese, Hokkien, Teochew.
• Baguio City, Philippines — English, Tagalog, Ilokano, Ifugao, and others.
• Baku, Azerbaijan — Azeri and Russian (not official).
• Balikpapan, Indonesia — Indonesian, Banjar, Javanese, Lawangan, Bugis.
• Bangalore, India — English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and many other Indian languages.
• Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain — Catalan and Spanish.
• Beirut, Lebanon — Arabic, French, English, Armenian.
• Berlin, Germany — German, but includes large ethnic communities known to speak their languages (i.e. Turkish).
• Biel, Switzerland — French and German.
• Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain — Spanish and Basque.
• Bilwi formerly known as Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua — Spanish and Miskitu.
• Bluefields, Nicaragua — Spanish, Creole, and Miskitu.
• Bolzano, Italy — German, Italian and Friulian-Rheatian.
• Brussels, Belgium — Dutch, French (both official) and English due to the EU and NATO headquarters.
• Buenos Aires — Spanish, but ethnic communities founded by immigrants brought Italian, German, French, Levantine Arabic and Serbo-Croatian among others.
• Bukhara, Uzbekistan - Uzbek is the sole official language of the Republic of Uzbekistan. However, the majority of the inhabitants are Tajik speaking Tajiks. Russian is still spoken by many of the inhabitants as well as Uzbek by ethnic Uzbeks and Uzbekicized Tajiks who were forced to speak Uzbek during the Soviet period.
• Cape Town, South Africa — English, Xhosa, Afrikaans and other African languages.
• Cardiff, Wales, UK — Welsh, English.
• Castellón de la Plana, Valencian Community, Spain — Valencian (Catalan) and Spanish.
• Cebu, Philippines — Cebuano, English, Tagalog, Chinese, Spanish, and others.
• Chennai(Madras), India — English, Tamil, Telugu and many other Indian languages.
• Tricity of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, India — English, Hindi and Punjabi.
• Chicago, Illinois, USA — English, but immigrant languages (i.e. Spanish and Polish) can be found spoken and printed on businesses in ethnic neighborhoods.
• Cochabamba, Bolivia — Spanish and Quechua
• Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom - English, Scottish Gaelic now official and spoken by a minority. Other immigrant languages spoken.
• Coachella, California, USA — English, but Spanish can be in documents as the city council represents a 90% Hispanic majority, esp. Mexican-Americans.
• Darjeeling, India — Nepali, English, Hindi, Bengali and Drukyal language.
• Delhi, India — English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and many others representing the country's ethnocultural diversity.
• Diyarbakır, Turkey — Turkish and Kurdish.
• Dublin, Ireland — English, Irish (both official, despite English is more common) and recently, Polish immigrants brought the language to Ireland.
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates — English, Arabic, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Tagalog.
• Dunkirk, France - a sizable West Flemish-Dutch speaking population from being in historic Flanders.
• Durban, South Africa — English, Zulu, and Indian languages.
• Dushanbe, Tajikistan - Tajik is the official language of the Republic of Tajikistan and the mother tongue of the majority of the population. Russian is still spoken by a majority of the inhabitants, especially older citizens who are either ethnic Tajiks or ethnic Russians. Russian was recently removed as the "Language of Inter-ethnic Communication" however most inhabitants continue to use it as their primary language in the capital of the Former Soviet Republic.
• El Paso, Texas, USA/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico — English and Spanish (which is dominant).
• Fribourg, Switzerland — French, German (both official) and Italian.
• Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil — Portuguese, Spanish and there is substantial Korean, Chinese and Arabic-speaking immigrant settlement.
• George Town, Malaysia — Penang Hokkien (Lingua Franca), English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and other Indian Languages, Teochew and other Chinese Dialects, Thai (spoken by Malaysian Thais) and other languages spoken by expatriates (e.g. Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, German)
• Gibraltar — English, Spanish, Llanito and Maghrebi Arabic.
• Gorizia, Italy — Italian, Friulian, Slovene.
• Helsinki, Finland — Finnish, Swedish (both official) and Russian.
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — Vietnamese, Cantonese, French and fluency in English from the Vietnam war era.
• Hong Kong — Cantonese, English, Mandarin and some others.
• Hyderabad, India — Telugu, English, Urdu and many others.
• Ibiza Town, Balearic Islands, Spain — Catalan and Spanish.
• Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesian as national language, Betawi as native language, and many other languages brought by migrant from all over Indonesia such as Javanese, Sundanese, Minang, and Batak.
• Jerusalem — Hebrew, Arabic, English, large Russian-speaking community, Yiddish and Ladino (Judeo-Spanish).
• Kabul, Afghanistan — Pashto, Persian and others from the country's ethnically diverse countryside.
• Karachi, Pakistan - Urdu, Pashto, Sindhi and other languages spoken in Pakistan.
• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo — French, Lingala and Dutch (legacy of the Belgian colonial era).
• Kolkata(Calcutta), India — English, Hindi, and Bengali.
• Koper, Slovenia — Slovene, Italian and Serbo-Croatian.
• Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands — Papiamento and Dutch
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tamil, English and small Arabic speaking colony.
• Lahore, Pakistan — Punjabi and Urdu
• Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA — The region surrounding the city has a history of Amish, Mennonite and Pennsylvania Dutch German-speaking people. Today, it is universally English and bilingualism declined in the 20th century.
• Laredo, Texas, USA/Nuevo Laredo, Mexico — Spanish speaking majority with a high fluency in English.
• Lleida, Catalonia, Spain — Catalan and Spanish.
• Lomé, Togo — Ewe, French and some usage of English.
• London, UK — English is universal, but it has 80 to 100 immigrant languages.
• Los Angeles, USA — English, large Spanish-speaking minority (about 40%, could be the largest Spanish-speaking city in the USA) and about 100-150 languages make up the remainder.
• Luxembourg City, Luxembourg — French, German, Luxembourgish, English, and large Turkish-, Polish- and Portuguese-speaking communities.
• Macau — Cantonese, Mandarin Portuguese and fluency in English.
• Makassar, Indonesia — Indonesian, Bugis, Makassarese
• Mangalore, India — Kannada, Tulu, Konkani and Beary.
• Medan, Indonesia — Indonesian, Batak, Javanese, Medan Hokkien, Tamil, Minang, and some others languages.
• Metropolitan Manila, Philippines — English, Tagalog, Spanish, other Philippine languages, and others.
• Mexico City, Mexico — Spanish is the most commonly spoken language, but rural-to-urban migration brought indigenous languages often are Mayan and Aztec-Nahuatl. English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Basque, Korean, Armenian, and Chinese.
• Miami, Florida — English, French Creole, Spanish (from the Cuban exile community and other Latin Americans) and Afro-Caribbean languages.
• Montreal, Canada — French (official, Montreal is the 2nd largest French speaking city in the world) and English. Spanish, Italian, Greek, Haitian Creole, Portugal and Arabic communities are especially common.
• Mumbai(Bombay), India — English, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati and 100 other languages.
• New York City — English (official), large Spanish-speaking community, and 100 to 150 languages, mostly found in ethnic communities, examples include Chinese in Chinatown, Manhattan and Russian in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
• Nicosia, Cyprus — Greek, Turkish (both official) and English.
• Oranjestad, Aruba — Dutch, English, Papiamento, Spanish and French.
• Ottawa, Canada — English, French (esp. in nearby Gatineau, Quebec).
• Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain — Catalan and Spanish.
• Panama City, Panama — Spanish and fluency in English.
• Pamplona, Spain — Spanish and Basque.
• Patna, India — English, Hindi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and many others.
• Pomerode, Brazil — Portuguese, German and Italian.
• Pretoria, South Africa — Afrikaans, Sotho, English and Zulu.
• Pristina, Kosovo — Albanian (predominant), Serbian (from previous Serbian-Yugoslavian rule) and Turkish (from former Ottoman Empire rule).
• Pula, Croatia — Croatian, and Italian.
• Pune, India — English, Hindi, and Marathi.
• Rome, Italy — Italian but many others, while neighboring Vatican City has used Latin for liturgal and diplomatic purposes.
• Samarqand, Uzbekistan - Uzbek is the sole official language of the Republic of Uzbekistan. However, the majority of the inhabitants are Tajik speaking Tajiks. Russian is still spoken by many of the inhabitants as well as Uzbek by ethnic Uzbeks and Uzbekicized Tajiks who were forced to speak Uzbek during the Soviet period.
• San Antonio, California, USA — English (official), and Spanish (commonly spoken by large Hispanic/Mexican/Tejano community).
• San Diego, California, USA — English (official, most common) and Spanish, due to proximity to the border in Tijuana.
• San Francisco, USA — Chinese, English, French, Italian, Spanish and . The Oakland public schools decided in 1996 to make Ebonics an African-American English dialect an instructional language.
• Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain — Basque and Spanish.
• Santiago, Galicia, Spain — Galician and Spanish.
• San Juan, Puerto Rico — English, Spanish (both official, however the latter is spoken as a mother language).
• Santa Ana, California, USA — English (official in city government), but has emphasized the usage of Spanish for its Hispanic majority, Vietnamese for its many Vietnamese-American residents and 50 known languages in the city.
• Sanandaj, Iran — Official Language is Persian but most of the people speak Kurdi.
• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Croatian (Bosnian dialect) and Serbian (Cyrllic script)
• Seattle, Washington, USA — In the Downtown and International districts, one can find street signs, business strips and trash can labels in six to eight languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Vietnamese; and in some cases Russian and Japanese.
• Singapore — English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay, Tamil, Cantonese and many nationalities speak their own languages.
• Surabaya, Indonesia — Indonesian, Javanese, Madurese.
• Strasbourg, Alsace, France. — The inhabitants of the region can speak French (official), Alsatian (the regional German dialect and locally dominant) and German (High German).
• Tabriz, Iran — Official language is Persian but most of the people speak Azeri.
• Tallinn, Estonia — the only official language is Estonian, however a large proportion of the population speak Russian as their native language (46,9% in 2010) and other minority languages — Ukrainian (1,35%), Belarusian (0,53%) and others, while Estonian is the mother tongue of 49,8% of the inhabitants. Despite the lack of official recognition Russian is very widely used in commerce (e.g. bilingual advertisements, announcements at shopping centers etc.).
• Târgu Mureş, Romania — Romanian, Hungarian and some Roma may use the Romani language.
• Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain — Catalan and Spanish.
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Uzbek is the sole official language of the Uzbek republic and the mother tongue of Uzbeks. However many ethnic Russians who speak Russian have been living in Tashkent since the Russian Colonial Era and Soviet Period, where Tashkent was the capital and largest central city of the Central Asian Republics of the Russian Empire and later USSR. Other languages such as Tajik and Kyrgyz, Tatar, Kazakh, and Turkmen are spoken by other ethnic minorities.
• Tel Aviv, Israel — Mainly Hebrew, (in parts of Jaffa) Arabic, English, (Immigrant Communities) Russian, and Aramaic.
• Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA — An example of Louisiana Creole and Cajun French speakers, but English is dominant and some Isleno Spanish speakers.
• Toronto, Canada — English, but a highly multi-cultural community leads to city, province (Ontario) and Canadian governments to use 100 different languages, from Chinese, French, Italian, Portuguese, Punjabi and Tamil, in documents.
• Trivandrum(Thiruvananthapuram), India — Malayalam, Tamil and English.
• Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain — Valencian (Catalan), and Spanish.
• Vancouver, Canada — English, Mandarin Chinese/Cantonese Chinese (large ethnic Chinese community), Punjabi, Persian, Tagalog, Korean, Italian, German, French and a few First Nations languages in Indian Reserves of the region.
• Vigo, Galicia, Spain — Galician, and Spanish.
• Ilocos Sur, Philippines — Ilokano, English, Tagalog, Spanish, and others.
• Vilnius, Lithuania — Lithuanian, Russian and Polish.
• Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain — Basque and Spanish.
• Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia — Tatar, Bashkir and Russian.
• Willemstad, Curaçao — Papiamento, Dutch and Spanish.
• Zamboanga, Philippines — Chavacano, Tagalog, English, Tausug, Visayan languages, and Spanish from the colonial era.