Official Languages Of Countries Around The Globe From the 14th century, European explorers and, later, colonists spread around the world. In some colonies, the people spoke many languages. When such countries won their independence, they often adopted the language of the former colonial power as their official language when they became independent. As a result, English is now the official language of about 27 percent of the world's population. It is also the language for most international business. Other major official and business languages include Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Russian and French. Here are some of the official languages. Country Official Language(s) Maldives, South Asia Divehi Nepal, South Asia Nepali Pakistan, South Asia Urdu Sri Lanka, South Asia Sinhala and Tamil Senegal, West Africa French Sierra Leone, West Africa English Togo, West Africa French Angola, West Africa Portuguese Burkina Faso, West Africa French Tunisia, North Africa Arabic Cambodia, Southeast Asia Khmer Laos, Southeast Asia Lao Macao, East Asia Chinese and Portuguese Israel, Southwest Asia Hebrew and Arabic Iran, Southwest Asia Farsi (Persian) Haiti, Caribbean French and Creole Belize, Central America English Canada, North America English and French Greenland, North America Danish and Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) Vatican City, Europe Latin and Italian Hungary, Europe Magyar Bosnia-Herzegovina, Europe Serbo-Croat Luxembourg, Europe French, German and Letzebuergesch Source: Ultimate Altlas of the World, published by Dempsey Parr, an imprint of Parragon. This website: Copyright © 2002 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher or the previous publisher of original republished materials.