List of Official Languages - Official Regional and Minority Languages

Official Regional and Minority Languages

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Abaza:

  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Cherkess, Karachay, Nogai and Russian)

Adyghe:

  • Adygea (state language; with Russian)

Aghul:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Albanian:

  • Serbia (in Kosovo and several municipalities in Central-Serbia)
  • Macedonia (in some municipalities)

Albanian:

  • Montenegro (with Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian)

Altay:

  • Altay, Republic of (state language; with Russian)

Aranese see Occitan

Armenian:

  • Nagorno Karabagh

Assamese:

  • India (with Hindi, English {as a "subsidiary official language"} and 20 other official languages)
    • Assam

Avar:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Azeri:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Balkar:

  • Kabardino-Balkaria (state language; with Kabardian and Russian)

Bashkir:

  • Bashkortostan (state language; with Russian)

Basque:

  • Basque Autonomous Community (with Spanish)
  • Navarre (in some areas with Spanish)

Bengali:

  • India (with Hindi, English {as a "subsidiary official language"} and 20 other official languages; second most spoken Indian Language)
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    • Assam
    • Tripura
    • West Bengal

Bosnian:

  • part of Serbia
    • Sandžak region
  • Montenegro (with Montenegrin, Albanian, Croatian and Serbian)

Buryat:

  • Buryatia (state language; with Russian)
  • Zabaykalsky Krai
    • Agin-Buryat Okrug (authorized language)

Cantonese Chinese:

  • Hong Kong (for Chinese language, both Cantonese and Mandarin are spoken de facto; co-official with English)
  • Macau (for Chinese language, both Cantonese and Mandarin are spoken de facto; co-official with Portuguese)

Catalan:

  • parts of Spain
    • Balearic Islands (with Spanish)
    • Catalonia (with Spanish)
    • Valencia (named as Valencian, with Spanish)
  • parts of France
    • Pyrénées Orientales
  • parts of Italy
    • Alguero

Chechen:

  • Chechnya (state language; with Russian)
  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Cherkess:

  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Karachay, Nogai and Russian)

Chipewyan:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Chukchi:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Chukchi population)

Chuvash

  • Chuvashia (state language; with Russian)

Cree:

  • Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Crimean Tatar

  • Crimea (with Russian and Ukrainian)

Croatian:

  • part of Austria
    • Burgenland (with German and Hungarian)*part of Italy
    • Molise
  • part of Serbia
    • Vojvodina (with Hungarian, Pannonian Rusyn, Romanian, Serbian and Slovak)
  • Montenegro (with Montenegrin, Albanian, Bosnian and Serbian)

Dargwa:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Dolgan:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Dolgan population)

Dutch:

  • The Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France) (Flemish Language with French, English for some part of the region)

English:

  • parts of Canada:
See also: Official language by province and ]
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Manitoba (with French)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Saskatchewan
  • New Brunswick (with French)
  • Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Slavey (North and South) and Tłįchǫ)
  • Nunavut (with Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, and French)
  • Yukon (with French)
  • The United Kingdom:
  • England
  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Isle of Man (with Manx Gaelic)
  • Guernsey (with French)
  • Jersey (with French)
  • parts of the United States. See English-only movement. English is an official language in the following states and territories:
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Hawaii (with Hawaiian language)
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kentucky
    • Massachusetts
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • New Hampshire
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Puerto Rico (with Spanish)
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Texas
    • Tennessee
    • U.S. Virgin Islands
    • Utah
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming

Erzya:

  • Mordovia (state language; with Moksha and Russian)

Even:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Even population)

Evenki:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Evenki population)

Faroese:

  • Faroe Islands (with Danish)

Finnish:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Karelian and Veps)

French:

  • parts of Canada
  • New Brunswick (co-official with English)
  • Northwest Territories (with Chipewyan, Cree, English, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Slavey (North and South) and Tłįchǫ)
  • Nunavut (with English, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut)
  • Quebec
  • Yukon (with English)
  • Guernsey (with English)
  • Jersey (with English)
  • Pondicherry (co-official with Tamil in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Also Telugu and Malayalam are its regional official languages)
  • part of Italy
    • Aosta (co-official with Italian)
  • part of USA with Louisiana

Frisian (West):

  • The Netherlands: co-official in the province of Friesland (with Dutch)

Gagauz:

  • Gagauzia (Moldova) (with Russian)

Galician:

  • part of Spain
    • Galicia (with Spanish)

German:

  • Italy
    • South Tyrol (together with Italian and Ladin)

Greek:

  • parts of south Albania
  • parts of south Italy
    • Salento (Grecia Salentina, together with Italian)
    • Calabria (Bovesia, together with Italian)

Guaraní:

  • in Argentina
    • Corrientes Province (co-official with Spanish)

Gujarati:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Dadra and Nagar Haveli
    • Daman and Diu
    • Gujarat

Gwich'in:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Hawaiian:

  • Hawaii (with English)

Hungarian:

  • part of Serbia
    • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Slovak and Ruthenian)
  • part of Romania
  • part of Slovenia
  • part of Croatia
  • part of Slovakia
  • part of Austria

Ingush:

  • Ingushetia (state language; with Russian)

Inuinnaqtun:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))
  • Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuktitut)

Inuktitut:

  • Nunavut (with English, French, and Inuinnaqtun)
  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Inuvialuktun:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Irish:

  • Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) (along with Ulster Scots and English)

Italian:

  • part of Croatia
    • Istria county (with Croatian)
  • part of Slovenia
    • Izola, Koper and Piran municipalities (with Slovene)

Japanese:

  • Part of Palau
    • Angaur (with English)

Kabardian

  • Kabardino-Balkaria (state language; with Balkar and Russian)

Kalaallisut:

  • Greenland

Kalmyk:

  • Kalmykia (state language; with Russian)

Kannada:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Karnataka

Karachay:

  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Nogai and Russian)

Karelian:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Finnish and Veps)

Kashmiri:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Jammu and Kashmir

Kazakh:

  • Republic of Altay (official language; in localities with Kazakh population)
  • part of the People's Republic of China
    • Ili, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Barkol, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Mori, with Chinese (Mandarin)
  • part of Mongolia
    • Mori, with Mongolian

Khakas:

  • Khakassia (state language; with Russian)

Khanty:

  • Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Mansi and Nenets)
  • Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Nenets and Selkup)

Komi:

  • Komi (state language; with Russian)

Komi-Permyak:

  • Perm Krai
    • Komi-Permyak Okrug (official language)

Korean:

  • part of the People's Republic of China with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Changbai (Jangbaek, Changbaek)
    • Yanbian (Yeonbyeon,Yŏnbyŏn)

Kumyk:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Kyrgyz:

  • part of the People's Republic of China
  • Kizilsu (with Chinese (Mandarin))

Lak:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Lezgian

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Macedonian:*part of Albania

  • part of Serbia

Malayalam:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Kerala
    • Pondicherry
    • Lakshadweep

Mansi:

  • Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Nenets)

Marathi:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Maharashtra
    • Goa
    • Dadra and Nagar Haveli
    • Daman and Diu

Mari (Hill and Meadow):

  • Mari El (state language; with Russian)

Mayan:

  • Mexico (*only recognized)
  • Guatemala (*only recognized)
  • Belize (*only recognized)
  • Honduras (*only recognized)
  • El Salvador (*only recognized)

Moksha:

  • Mordovia (state language; with Erzya and Russian)

Mongolian:

  • part of the People's Republic of China
    • Inner Mongolia, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Haixi, with Tibetan and Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Bortala, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Bayin'gholin, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Dorbod, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Qian Gorlos, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Harqin Left, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Fuxin, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Weichang, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Subei, with Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Henan, with Chinese (Mandarin)

Náhuatl:

  • Mexico (*only recognized)
  • El Salvador (*only recognized)

Nenets:

  • Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Mansi)
  • Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Selkup)

Nepali:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)

Nogai:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)
  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Russian)

Occitan (Aranese):

  • Aran Valley (with Catalan and Spanish)

Oriya:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Orissa

Ossetic (Digor and Iron dialects):

  • North Ossetia—Alania (state language; with Russian)

Portuguese:*part of the People's Republic of China

  • Macau (with Chinese)

Punjabi:

  • Pakistan
  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Punjab
    • Delhi

Romanian:

  • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak and Ruthenian)

Russian. Russian is fixed as a state language in the Constitutions of the republics of the Russian Federation:

  • Adygea (state language; with Adyghe)
  • Altay, Republic of (state language; with Altay)
  • Bashkortostan (state language; with Bashkir)
  • Buryatia (state language; with Buryat)
  • Chechnya (state language; with Chechen)
  • Chuvashia (state language; with Chuvash)
  • Dagestan (state language; with the languages of the Dagestan peoples)
  • Ingushetia (state language; with Ingush)
  • Kabardino-Balkaria (state language; with Balkar and Kabardian)
  • Kalmykia (state language; with Kalmyk)
  • Karachay–Cherkessia (state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Nogai)
  • Karelia (state language)
  • Khakassia (state language; with Khakas)
  • Komi (state language; with Komi)
  • Mari El (state language; with Mari (Hill and Meadow))
  • Mordovia (state language; with Erzya and Moksha)
  • North Ossetia—Alania (state language; with Ossetic)
  • Sakha (state language; with Sakha)
  • Tatarstan (state language; with Tatar)
  • Tyva (state language; with Tuvan)
  • Udmurtia (state language; with Udmurt)
  • Russian (with Gagauz) is an official language of Gagauzia (autonomous republic within Moldova)

Rusyn:

  • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak)
  • Ukraine
    • Zakarapts'ka region (with Ukrainian, Hungarian)

Rutul:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Sakha:

  • Sakha (state language; with Russian)

Sanskrit:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)

Sami:

  • Finland (in four municipalities)
  • Norway (in six municipalities in two provinces)
  • Sweden (in four municipalities and surrounding municipalities)

Sarikoli:

  • part of the People's Republic of China (It's different from Tajiki of Tajikistan)
    • Taxkorgan (with Chinese (Mandarin))

Scottish Gaelic:

  • Scotland (United Kingdom) (with English and Scots)

Scots:

  • Scotland (United Kingdom) (with English and Scottish Gaelic)
  • Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)
  • Donegal (Republic of Ireland)

Selkup:

  • Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (aboriginal language; with Khanty and Nenets)

Sindhi:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
  • Pakistan (Official language in the Province of Sindh along with Urdu and English)

North and South Slavey:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib))

Slovak:

  • part of Serbia
  • Vojvodina (with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian and Ruthenian)

Slovene:

  • part of Italy
    • Friuli-Venezia Giulia (with Italian, Friulian and German)
  • part of Austria
    • Carinthia (with German)

Spanish:

  • Puerto Rico (with English)
  • Philippines (mainly as Chavacano in Basilan and Zamboanga Peninsula)

Tabasaran:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Tahitian:

  • French Polynesia (with French)

Tamil:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    • Pondicherry
    • Tamil Nadu

Tat:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Tatar:

  • Tatarstan (state language; with Russian)

Telugu:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Andhra Pradesh
    • Pondicherry

Tibetan:

  • Tibet Autonomous Region (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Aba (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Garzê (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Diqing (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Wenshan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Gannan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Haibai (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Hainan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Huangnan (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Golog (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Gyêgu (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Haixi (with Mongolian and Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Muli (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Tianzhu (with Chinese (Mandarin))

Tłįchǫ:

  • Northwest Territories (with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, and South Slavey)

Tsakhur:

  • Dagestan (as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)

Tswana:

  • South Africa (with Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Turkish:

  • Macedonia in Plasnica and Centar Župa
  • Kosovo in Prizren and Mamuša
  • part of Bulgaria

Tuvan:

  • Tyva (state language; with Russian)

Udmurt:

  • Udmurtia (state language; with Russian)

Urdu:

  • India (with 22 other regional languages)
    • Jammu and Kashmir
    • Delhi Territory
    • Uttar Pradesh state
    • Bihar state
    • Andhra Pradesh mainly in Hyderabad (former princely state of Nizam) and adjacent areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka

Uyghur:

  • Xinjiang (with Chinese (Mandarin))

Veps:

  • Karelia (authorized language; with Finnish and Karelian)

Vietnamese:

  • Guangxi Province, China (some regional status)
  • Part of Cambodia
  • Part of Laos

Welsh:

  • Wales (United Kingdom) (with English)

Yiddish:

  • Russia (only in Jewish Autonomous Oblast, with Russian)

Yukaghir:

  • Sakha (local official language; in localities with Yukaghir population)

Zhuang:

  • Guangxi (with Chinese (Mandarin))
  • Lianshan (with Chinese (Mandarin))

Read more about this topic:  List Of Official Languages

Famous quotes containing the words official, minority and/or languages:

    In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)

    If when a businessman speaks of minority employment, or air pollution, or poverty, he speaks in the language of a certified public accountant analyzing a corporate balance sheet, who is to know that he understands the human problems behind the statistical ones? If the businessman would stop talking like a computer printout or a page from the corporate annual report, other people would stop thinking he had a cash register for a heart. It is as simple as that—but that isn’t simple.
    Louis B. Lundborg (1906–1981)

    It is time for dead languages to be quiet.
    Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)