Which Countries Have the Most Official Languages?

Official languages are considered to be vital tools of communication throughout the world. In many places, they serve as a default language for communication when there are various other options available. In so doing, official languages are designated as the language used for authoritative and legal purposes, especially between the government and the citizens. These languages end up with significant power and prestige, often at the expense of other languages that are spoken in the country. To avoid this kind of discrimination, some countries opted to have more than one established language.

Here are the countries with the most official languages.

There is more than one way to define what “official status” means when referring to a country’s preferred language. Some languages are official at the national level, while other languages are only official at a regional level. Both can get labeled as “official”, thus making it difficult to determine which country actually has the most official languages. Countries also have different definitions of what the term “official” constitutes.

When one talks of the “official language(s)”, one generally refers to the language that is used by the government throughout the entire country (when and where applicable). Even if the language is not used throughout the entire country, it is required to be available anywhere it is needed.

With this in mind, it is easier to create a list of the countries with the most official languages.

In Fourth Place with 12 Official Languages…

An overriding characteristic of South Africa is its diversity. After the collapse of apartheid, diversity was championed being vitally important to the foundation of what South Africa wanted to be as a nation. As such, South Africa designated 11 languages as being official. Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans are the most widely spoken first languages, while English is the most widely spoken second language. In 2023, South African Sign Language was elevated to have official status as well. 

With 13 official languages, the country of Mali in North Africa has the third highest number of official languages. The country has a diverse population of 22 million people who speak a total of around 80 languages. The most commonly spoken first and second language is Bambara, but there are many other languages that are important in different regions of the country. Mali was a French colony, and from independence in 1960 to 2023, French was retained as the official language, but was actually less widely spoken as a second language than Bambara. Only a few thousand Malians used French as a first language. 

The change in the status of French was largely informed by worsening relations between Mali and accusing France of espionage and supplying arms to terrorists. Mali was suspended from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Malian government in return, demoted French as a result of a referendum which saw the Malian people overwhelmingly vote to replace French.

13 languages were chosen to have official status. 

In Second Place With 16 Official Languages…

Zimbabwe has a total of 16 official languages. The country adopted a new constitution in 2013 as a result of a power-sharing deal in government. Languages in Zimbabwe have political, historical, and cultural importance, and naming 16 of them as official languages was a means to create a sense of equality and respect for diversity, much in the same way as it was done in South Africa.

Shona is by far the most widely spoken first language in Zimbabwe with Ndebele also holding a prominent position in terms of numbers of speakers. English is the first language of a small minority of Zimbabwean, most notably the descendants of colonial settlers, but it is the most commonly used second language. 

While Spanish is the predominant language of Bolivia, the country has a significant indigenous population which has held onto its linguistic and cultural roots. The country adopted a new constitution in 2009 and designated all indigenous languages as having official status, with 23 of them spoken by fewer than 1000 people, and two of them being extinct. Bolivian sign language is also one of the 37 languages that were given official status.

The most widely spoken native language in Bolivia is Quechua which is spoken by around 21% of the population. According to Bolivian law, the national government and the departmental government are required to use Spanish as well as one other official language according to the context through which it is required. In 2019, it was announced that three other languages would be added to the list of official languages. 

Conclusion

The world has always been a diverse place, but for much of its history, diversity was not seen as deserving of the respect it receives today. In the coming years, it is almost inevitable that more languages will be regarded with official status.