Countries are commonly defined by their geographic location, their national flag, and often the languages spoken by its people. This not only reveals how people communicate, but it also serves as a window into the history and culture of a place. Many nations have a prominent, primary language; some have multiple languages spoken within them; and other places don't have a single official language. WordTips set out to map out the official language of each country in (most of) the world. This informational map shows that there is a language that is surprisingly more common than others.
First, it's important to make a key distinction. Official languages or de jure are those a country's government has established as such, maybe in their constitution or some other historical document. For example, French has been the official language of France only since 1992 under the Constitution of France, but it has been mandatory for legal documents since 1539. Yet, to this day, not all countries have an official language; instead, they have a de facto language—that is, a language spoken by most of the population. Namely, Spanish is spoken by 98% of Mexicans and most documents and signs on the streets are in this language, but it's not an official language per se. This is a sign of acknowledgment and respect for 62 ancestral dialects spoken by Indigenous groups around the country.
Taking this into account, WordTips found that English is the official language for the most countries by far. Surprisingly, it is only the de facto language in the United Kingdom, where it originated, as well as Australia and New Zealand. It was also the de facto language of the United States for a long time until an executive order from March 1, 2025 designated it as the official language (and came into effect after WordTips' research). In total, English is now the official language of 56 countries placed all over the world—a fact that lines up with their finding that English is also the most commonly spoken language in the world, with more than 1.13 billion speakers.
French takes second place with 29 countries that boast it as its official language, followed by Arabic, the official language of 22 nations. After the top three languages, the cultural intricacies of each region become apparent. For example, Bolivia and Peru have three official languages—with Quechua and Aymara having recognition alongside Spanish. Meanwhile, many neighbors share languages, like Swedish being an official language in both Finland and Sweden. Others tell a story of colonialism, like Portuguese being the language of 10 different countries in Europe, South America, and Africa.
To learn more about official languages around the world, scroll down to take a look at the insightful infographic put together by WordTips. To stay up to date with their maps and language findings—or ace your Scrabble matches—be sure to visit the WordTips website.
WordTips set out to map out the official languages found in the most countries of the world and shared their findings in a revealing infographic.
Infographic by WordTips
WordTips: Website
Sources: The Official Languages Found in the Most Countries Around the World; The 100 Most-Spoken Languages in the World; Official language of the United States
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