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Country of immigrants -

Did you know that up until 2025, the United States didn’t have an official language? Historically, this was because the nation is a country of immigrants, so there are many languages spoken.

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Canada -

America’s northern neighbor, Canada, has two official languages, French and English, but because of its broad multiculturalism, more than 30 other languages are widely spoken in the country.

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No official language -

There are four countries that have no official language, each on a different continent. Can you guess what they are?

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Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, and Eritrea -

The four nations without an official language are Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Eritrea. Although each of these countries has a de facto language, none of them have been officially recognized by their respective governments.

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Pakistan -

These four countries had more among them until policies began to change within the last two decades. For example, Pakistan only considered Urdu its official language in 2015.

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Ethiopia and Somalia -

Ethiopia and Somalia also made changes in recent years. and declared official languages. In 2025, US President Donald Trump also forced the US off the list of nations with no official language.

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At least one official language -

Besides these outliers, most other countries have at least one official language recognized by their respective governments.

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Countries with four countries -

There are four countries that have four official languages; an incredible feat for those nations’ population.

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Singapore -

Singapore’s official languages are Mandarin Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil. English and Mandarin are used most often in business contexts, while Malay is used more by the local population in day-to-day life.

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Small country with language diversity -

It may be quite shocking that such a small country has so many languages, but the language diversity reflects Singapore’s rich history.

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Eastern European nation -

Another country that has four official languages is another small nation with big linguistic ambitions. Can you guess which Eastern European nation this is?

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Moldova -

It’s Moldova! Moldova’s four official languages are: Moldovan, Russia, Gagauz, and Ukrainian. The latter two are mostly regional.

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Regional differences -

Gagauz is spoken in Gagauzia, an autonomous region in the country, while Ukrainian is mostly spoken in Transnistria, which is officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.

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The Netherlands and Switzerland -

The other two countries with four international languages are also European: the Netherlands and Switzerland.

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The Netherlands -

The Netherlands’ official languages are Dutch, Frisian, Limburgish, and Papiamento. Although English doesn’t make the list, it’s certainly well-known among the Dutch population and frequently used.

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Switzerland -

Switzerland’s official languages speak to its geographical location. Surrounded by Italy, France, and Germany, can you guess three out of four of its official languages?

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Italian, French, German, and Romansh -

If you guessed Italian, French, and German, you would be right. Perhaps you’ve never even heard of its fourth language. It’s Romansh, and it’s primarily spoken in the area of Grisons.

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Swiss German -

A fun fact about Swiss German is that, often times, speakers of German from Germany are often unable to understand German from Switzerland.

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Serbia -

Do you know which country has 10 official languages? It’s Serbia. Serbian, Croatian, Romania, Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Bosnian, Bulgarian, and Albanian make up the nation’s lingual diversity.

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South Africa -

What can beat 10 official languages? How about 11? South Africa’s 11 languages don’t even include all the languages spoken in the country.

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Languages of South Africa -

Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu are the nation’s official languages.

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Inclusivity -

But the government also recognizes the presence of Khoi, Nama, San, as well as sign language. Linguistic inclusivity was a big step in the country’s post-Apartheid period.

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Zimbabwe -

Which South African neighbor has a whooping 16 official languages, the third-largest number of official languages in the world? It’s Zimbabwe.

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Zimbabwe's languages -

Zimbabwe’s official languages are Chew, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and sign language.

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India -

On another continent altogether, the nation with the second-largest official languages in the world is India.

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India's languages -

English, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, Kokborok, Garo, Gujarati, Kannada, Khasi, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Meitei Manipuri, Mizo, Odia, Oriya, Punjabi, Santhali, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu, are all recognized languages.

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Russia -

What nation has the most official languages in the world? It’s also the largest country on Earth. Can you guess? It’s Russia!

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Russia's language -

Russia has an incredibly 24 official languages across its republics. In addition to Russian, the nation speaks Buryat, Altay, Tyvan, Khakas, Sakha, Adygean, Bashkir, Ingush, Kabardian, Balkar, Tatar, Kalmyk, Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay, Nogai, Mari, Mordvin, Komi, Ossetian, Udmurt, Chechen, and Chuvash.

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Common unifier -

Most of these languages are quite specific to particular regions and areas, but Russian is the common unifier between them.

Sources: (World Population Review) (World Atlas)

See also: How synesthesia can help language learning

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