List of countries where English is an official language

The following is a list of countries and territories where English is an official language used in citizen interactions with government officials. As of 2025^[update], there are 58 sovereign states and 28 non-sovereign entities where English is an official language. Many administrative divisions have declared English an official language at the local or regional level.

English language distribution

  Majority native language

  Official or administrative language, but not majority language

Most states where English is an official language are former territories of the British Empire. Exceptions include Rwanda and Burundi, which were formerly German and then Belgian colonies; Cameroon, where only part of the country was under the British mandate; and Liberia, the Philippines, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, which were American territories. English is the sole official language of the Commonwealth of Nations and of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). English is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Caribbean Community, the Union of South American Nations, and many other international organisations.

The United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand do not have English as an official language, but it is the de facto working language for their governments.

Sovereign states

English is a de jure official language

Country	code	Geographic region	Population	Primary language?
The Bahamas	BHS	Caribbean	331,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Barbados	BRB	Caribbean	294,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Belize	BLZ	Central America	288,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Botswana	BWA	Africa	2,549,207	Yes
Burundi	BDI	Africa	10,114,505	No
Cameroon	CMR	Africa	22,534,532	No (co-official with French, but only spoken primarily in the Northwest and Southwest of the country)
Canada	CAN	North America	38,048,738	Yes (Co-official with French, and a predominant language nationwide except for Quebec (where French is the predominant language) and Nunavut (where Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun are the predominant languages))
Dominica	DMA	Caribbean	73,000	No (French-based creole language)
Eswatini	SWZ	Africa	1,141,000	No
Fiji	FJI	Oceania	828,000	Yes (used as lingua franca, mostly and widely spoken, educational, commerce, and government)
The Gambia	GMB	Africa	1,709,000	Yes
Ghana	GHA	Africa	27,000,000	Yes (used as lingua franca)
Grenada	GRD	Caribbean	111,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Guyana	GUY	South America	738,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
India	IND	Asia	1,428,627,663	No (but official and educational and used in both government and business)
Ireland	IRL	Europe	4,900,000	Yes (Irish is co-official)
Jamaica	JAM	Caribbean	2,714,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Kenya	KEN	Africa	45,010,056	Yes (used in business and education)
Kiribati	KIR	Oceania	95,000	No
Lesotho	LSO	Africa	2,008,000	No
Liberia	LBR	Africa	3,750,000	Yes
Malawi	MWI	Africa	16,407,000	Yes (used as lingua franca)
Malta	MLT	Europe	537,000	No (but official and in business and education)
Marshall Islands	MHL	Oceania	59,000	No
Micronesia	FSM	Oceania	110,000	Yes
Namibia	NAM	Africa	2,074,000	No (used as lingua franca)
Nauru	NRU	Oceania	10,000	No (but widely spoken)
Nigeria	NGA	Africa	182,202,000	Yes (used as official language)
Pakistan	PAK	Asia	212,742,631	No (but official and educational)
Palau	PLW	Oceania	20,000	No
Papua New Guinea	PNG	Oceania	7,059,653	Yes (official and educational)
Philippines	PHL	Asia	110,864,327	No (but official, educational, used in government, and used as lingua franca)
Rwanda	RWA	Africa	13,240,439	No
Saint Kitts and Nevis	KNA	Caribbean	50,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Saint Lucia	LCA	Caribbean	165,000	No (French-based creole language)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VCT	Caribbean	120,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Samoa	WSM	Oceania	188,000	No
Seychelles	SYC	Africa / Indian Ocean	87,000	No
Sierra Leone	SLE	Africa	6,190,280	Yes (English-based creole language)
Singapore	SGP	Asia	5,469,700	Yes (official language, lingua franca, mostly and widely spoken, and educational)
Solomon Islands	SLB	Oceania	507,000	Yes
South Africa	ZAF	Africa	54,956,900	Yes (official, educational and lingua franca in formal economy)
South Sudan	SSD	Africa	12,340,000	Yes
Sudan	SDN	Africa	40,235,000	No
Tanzania	TZA	Africa	51,820,000	Yes (used in business and education)
Tonga	TON	Oceania	100,000	No
Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	Caribbean	1,333,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Tuvalu	TUV	Oceania	11,000	No
United States	USA	North America	339,665,118	Yes
Uganda	UGA	Africa	47,053,690	Yes
Vanuatu	VUT	Oceania	226,000	No
Zambia	ZMB	Africa	16,212,000	Yes (used as lingua franca)
Zimbabwe	ZWE	Africa	15,178,957	No

English is a predominant language without de jure designation as official

In these countries, English is conventionally spoken by both the government and main population, despite it having no de jure official status at national level.

ISO code	Country	Geographic region	Population	Primary language?
ATG	Antigua and Barbuda	Caribbean	85,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
AUS	Australia	Oceania	26,461,166	Yes
NZL	New Zealand	Oceania	5,109,702	Yes
GBR	United Kingdom	Europe	68,138,484	Yes

English is a de facto working language

In these countries, English is spoken in government or education, but it is not recognised as de jure official, nor a primary language spoken by the main population

Country	ISO code	Geographic region	Population
Bahrain	BHR	Asia / Middle East	1,500,000
Bangladesh	BAN	Asia	172,954,319
Bhutan	BTN	Asia	727,145
Brunei	BRN	Asia	440,715
Israel	ISR	Asia / Middle East	8,051,200
Jordan	JOR	Asia / Middle East	11,500,000
Kuwait	KWT	Asia / Middle East	4,310,000
Malaysia	MYS	Asia	32,730,000
Mauritius	MUS	Africa / Indian Ocean	1,262,000
Nepal	NPL	Asia	31,000,000
Oman	OMN	Asia / Middle East	4,700,000
Qatar	QAT	Asia / Middle East	2,675,522
Sri Lanka	LKA	Asia	20,277,597
Timor-Leste	TLS	Asia	1,340,513
United Arab Emirates	ARE	Asia / Middle East	9,809,000

Non-sovereign entities

English is a de jure official language

Entity	Sovereign state	Region	Population	Primary language?
Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus^[citation needed]	United Kingdom	Europe	15,700	No
American Samoa	United States	Oceania	67,700	No (official language)
Anguilla	United Kingdom	Caribbean	18,090	No (English-based creole language)
Bermuda	United Kingdom	North America	65,000	Yes
British Virgin Islands	United Kingdom	Caribbean	23,000	No (English-based creole language)
Cayman Islands	United Kingdom	Caribbean	47,000	Yes (English-based creole language)
Cook Islands	New Zealand	Oceania	20,000	No
Curaçao	Netherlands	Caribbean	150,563	No
Falkland Islands and South Georgia^[citation needed]	United Kingdom	South America	3,000	Yes
Gibraltar	United Kingdom	Europe	33,000	No (Both English and Llanito are spoken on a daily basis as the primary languages)
Guam	United States	Oceania	173,000	Yes (co-official with Chamorro)
Hong Kong	China	Asia	7,097,600	No (but de jure and de facto co-official with Chinese)
Isle of Man	United Kingdom	Europe	80,058	Yes
Jersey	United Kingdom	Europe	89,300	Yes
Niue	New Zealand	Oceania	1,600	No
Norfolk Island	Australia	Oceania	1,828	No (English-based creole language)
Northern Mariana Islands^[citation needed]	United States	Oceania	53,883	Yes (co-official with Chamorro)
Pitcairn Islands	United Kingdom	Oceania	50	Yes
Puerto Rico	United States	Caribbean	3,991,000	No (co-official with Spanish as the primary language)
Rotuma^[citation needed]	Fiji	Oceania	1,594	No
Sint Maarten	Netherlands	Caribbean	40,900	No (English-based creole language)
Turks and Caicos Islands	United Kingdom	Caribbean	26,000	No (English-based creole language)
U.S. Virgin Islands	United States	Caribbean	111,000	No (English-based creole language)

English is a de facto official language

Entity	Sovereign state	Region	Population
Barbuda^[citation needed]	Antigua and Barbuda	Caribbean	1,300
British Indian Ocean Territory^[citation needed]	United Kingdom	Indian Ocean	3,000
Guernsey	United Kingdom	Europe	61,811
Montserrat	United Kingdom	Caribbean	5,900
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	United Kingdom	South Atlantic	5,660

English is a de facto official, but not a primary language

Entity	Sovereign state	Region	Population
Christmas Island	Australia	Southeast Asia	1,508
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Australia	Southeast Asia	596
Tokelau	New Zealand	Oceania	1,400

Country subdivisions

In these country subdivisions, English has de jure official status, but English is not official in their respective countries at the national level.

Country subdivisions where English is a de jure official language

Subdivision	Country	Region	Population
San Andrés y Providencia	Colombia	South America	75,167
Sarawak	Malaysia	Asia	2,471,140
Saba	Netherlands	Caribbean	1,991
Sint Eustatius			3,897
Scotland	United Kingdom	Europe	5,424,800
Wales			3,125,000
Alabama	United States	North America	4,833,722
Alaska			735,132
Arizona			6,626,624
Arkansas			2,959,373
California			38,332,521
Colorado			5,268,367
Florida			21,299,325
Georgia			10,519,475
Hawaii		Oceania	1,404,054
Idaho		North America	1,612,136
Illinois			12,882,135
Indiana			6,570,902
Iowa			3,090,416
Kansas			2,893,957
Kentucky			4,395,295
Louisiana			4,657,757
Massachusetts			6,794,422
Mississippi			2,991,207
Missouri			6,083,672
Montana			1,015,165
Nebraska			1,868,516
New Hampshire			1,323,459
North Carolina			9,848,060
North Dakota			723,393
Oklahoma			3,850,568
South Carolina			4,774,839
South Dakota			844,877
Tennessee			6,495,978
Utah			2,900,872
Virginia			8,260,405
West Virginia			1,844,128
Wyoming			582,658

See also

• British Empire portal

• English-only movement
• Anglo-America
• Commonwealth of Nations
  • Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
• British Overseas Territories
• English-speaking world
• World Englishes
• English-based creole languages
• List of countries by English-speaking population
• List of languages by total number of speakers
• British Empire
• List of link languages
• Geolinguistics
• Language geography

Footnotes

1. The population figures are based on the sources in List of countries by population, with information as of 23 January 2009^[update] (UN estimates, et al.), and refer to the population of the country and not necessarily to the number of inhabitants that speak English in the country in question.
2. In the United States of America, English is the language of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and The Federalist Papers and remains the working language of the federal administration. It was first symbolically declared the official language by Executive Order 14224 in 2025. At the state level, some states with large Hispanic populations—such as Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas—provide bilingual legislated notices and official documents in both Spanish and English. Attempts have been made to legislate English as the official language of the federal government of the United States, often imbued with nationalist sentiment such as the proposed English Language Unity Act of 2005 with its controversial ties to immigration policy, but these initiatives have not passed in Congressional legislation, despite an English-only movement whose long history includes: Pennsylvania of the 1750s concerning German; the decade of the 1800s in Louisiana concerning French; the 1890s concerning the use of the Hawaiian language in Hawaii; and from 1880 onward—now formally organized—more than a century of American Indian boarding schools suppressing the use of Native American indigenous language.
3. American Samoa is an unincorporated U.S. territory.
4. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory.
5. The Cook Islands and Niue are associated states of New Zealand that lack general recognition.
6. Guam is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States
7. Hong Kong is a former British Crown colony (1843–1981) and British Dependent Territory (1981–1997); it is currently a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (1997–present).
8. The Isle of Man is a British Crown dependency.
9. Jersey is a British Crown dependency.
10. The Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the United States.
11. Pitcairn Islands is a British Overseas Territory.
12. Puerto Rico is, historically and culturally, connected to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean; Spanish is also an official language on the island. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated United States territory referred to as a "Commonwealth".
13. The US Virgin Islands is an insular area of the United States.
14. Guernsey is a British Crown dependency.
15. Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia.
16. Cocos (Keeling) Islands is an external territory of Australia.

References

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