Many countries have one official language, the one used in law, government and schools. But a large number have two, three or even more. Sometimes that reflects regions with different languages, sometimes a colonial past, sometimes a deliberate choice to protect a minority. In the Languages quiz you are asked to name one of a country's official languages, and the wrong options are never official there, so knowing which countries are multilingual is a real advantage.
Europe: languages by region
Switzerland is the textbook case. It has four national languages: German in the north and centre, French in the west, Italian in the south and Romansh, spoken by a small community in the mountains of Graubünden. Each canton decides its own official language, and federal laws are published in German, French and Italian.
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia and German in a small area near the German border, with Brussels officially bilingual. Luxembourg uses Luxembourgish, French and German, often switching between them in the same day.
Elsewhere in Europe, Ireland has Irish and English, and Finland has Finnish and Swedish, a reminder of centuries of Swedish rule.
The Americas
Canada has two official languages at the federal level, English and French, and Quebec is French-speaking. Paraguay is unusual: Guaraní, an Indigenous language, is official alongside Spanish and is spoken by most of the population. Bolivia goes further still: its 2009 constitution recognises Spanish and 36 Indigenous languages, including Quechua, Aymara and Guaraní.
Africa: the record holders
South Africa has had eleven official languages since 1994, including English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa, and in 2023 South African Sign Language became the twelfth. Zimbabwe recognises sixteen languages in its constitution, from Shona and Ndebele to sign language. Rwanda uses Kinyarwanda, French and English, and added Swahili in 2017.
The Arab world
Arabic is official in all 22 Arab League members, but in several of them it shares the role:
- Iraq: Arabic and Kurdish, both official under the 2005 constitution.
- Morocco: Arabic and Tamazight, official since 2011.
- Algeria: Arabic and Tamazight, official since 2016.
- Somalia: Somali and Arabic.
- Djibouti: Arabic and French.
- Comoros: Comorian, Arabic and French.
- Sudan: Arabic and English.
Outside the Arab League, Chad has Arabic and French as official languages, and Eritrea uses Arabic as one of its working languages, alongside Tigrinya and English.
Asia and the Pacific
Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil. English is the language of business and government, and Malay is the national language, used in the national anthem. India uses Hindi and English for the central government, and its constitution lists 22 languages in all. New Zealand recognises Māori and New Zealand Sign Language as official, while English is used everywhere without ever having been declared official.
Official is not the same as spoken
An official language is a legal status, not a headcount. In Luxembourg nearly everyone speaks Luxembourgish, yet laws are written in French. Irish is official in Ireland, but only a minority speak it every day. In Paraguay, by contrast, the official Indigenous language is the language of the home for millions. Keep that in mind when a question surprises you: the quiz asks about law, not about what you would hear in the street.
How the Languages quiz works
Each round shows a country and four languages. One of them is official there; the other three are not official there under any name, so you will never face two correct answers. On Hard difficulty the wrong options come from neighbours, which makes Europe especially tough: German, French and Italian all appear around the Alps.
The fact card after each answer lists every official language of the country, in Arabic and English. Try the Languages quiz and see how many multilingual countries you can now spot.