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Encyclopedia > English speaking countries

The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where English is an official language, in order of population. Several of these nations, like Canada and the Philippines, use English as an official language but not the sole official language. This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. ... A territory is a defined area (including land and waters), usually considered to be a possession of an animal, person, organization, or institution. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... An official language is a language that is given a privileged legal status in a state, or other legally-defined territory. ...


English in the U.S. and UK is de facto only; these nations have no official language. New Zealand also has English as a de facto official language, but also has two other de jure official languages (Māori and New Zealand Sign Language). Motto: (1789 to 1956) (Latin for Out of many, one) In God We Trust (1956 to present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - • President George W. Bush (R)  - • Vice... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... Look up De jure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The terms de jure and de facto are used instead of in principle and in practice, respectively, when one is describing political situations. ... Māori (or Maori or Te Reo) is the Polynesian language spoken in New Zealand, where it has official status. ... New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. ...


The status of English as a country's official language does not necessarily correlate with the number of English-speakers in that country. This is especially true for India and many African nations, and to a smaller extent for the Philippines. Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ...


Note that almost all of these countries are current or former colonies of the UK (see also British Empire). Two exceptions are the Philippines and Liberia, both former US colonies. Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also currently US territories. The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...


These nations total 2,135 million people, 15,583,152 square miles and about 18 trillion US dollars in GDP. India represents over half this population, and the United States represents over half this GDP.

Map of nations using English as an official language
Enlarge
Map of nations using English as an official language
Rank Country Population[1]
1 India 1,103,600,000
2 United States 297,600,000
3 Pakistan 162,419,946
4 Nigeria 128,771,988
5 Philippines 87,857,473
6 United Kingdom 60,441,457
7 South Africa 44,344,136
8 Kenya 33,829,590
9 Canada 32,300,000
10 Uganda 27,269,482
11 Ghana 21,029,853
12 Australia 20,300,000
13 Sri Lanka 20,064,776
14 Cameroon 16,380,005
15 Zimbabwe 12,746,990
16 Malawi 12,158,924
17 Zambia 11,261,795
18 Rwanda 8,440,820
19 Hong Kong [2] 6,898,686
20 Sierra Leone 6,017,643
21 Papua New Guinea 5,545,268
22 Singapore 4,425,720
23 Republic of Ireland 4,130,700
24 New Zealand 4,108,561
25 Liberia 3,482,211
26 Jamaica 2,731,832
27 Namibia 2,030,692
28 Lesotho 1,867,035
29 Botswana 1,640,115
30 The Gambia 1,593,256
31 Mauritius 1,230,602
32 Swaziland 1,173,900
33 Trinidad and Tobago 1,088,644
34 Fiji 893,354
35 Guyana 765,283
36 Solomon Islands 538,032
37 Malta 398,534
38 The Bahamas 301,790
39 Belize 279,457
40 Barbados 279,254
41 Vanuatu 205,754
42 Guam 168,564
43 Saint Lucia 166,312
44 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 117,534
45 U.S. Virgin Islands 108,708
46 Micronesia 108,105
47 Kiribati 103,092
48 Jersey 90,812
49 Grenada 89,502
50 Seychelles 81,188
51 Isle of Man 75,049
52 Dominica 69,029
53 Antigua and Barbuda 68,722
54 Bermuda 65,365
55 Guernsey 65,228
56 Marshall Islands 59,071
57 Cayman Islands 44,270
58 Saint Kitts and Nevis 38,958
59 Gibraltar 27,884
60 British Virgin Islands 22,643
61 Cook Islands 21,388
62 Turks and Caicos Islands 20,556
63 Palau 20,303
64 Anguilla 13,254
65 Montserrat 9,341
66 Saint Helena 7,460
67 Falkland Islands 2,967
68 Norfolk Island 1,828
69 Christmas Island [3] 1,600
70 Pitcairn Islands 46

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1350x625, 110 KB) Summary Countries where English is an official or de facto official language Countries added by Ezeu based on wikipedia:List of countries where English is an official language (version: 16 March 2006) Original map: BlankMap-World. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1350x625, 110 KB) Summary Countries where English is an official or de facto official language Countries added by Ezeu based on wikipedia:List of countries where English is an official language (version: 16 March 2006) Original map: BlankMap-World. ...

See also

This is a list of countries of the world sorted by the number of English-speaking population in that country. ... Definitions of the Anglosphere vary: one definition (depicted, all in blue) includes two dumb countries – the United Kingdom and the United States – and 100000000000000 outliers: Australia, crap, Republic of fartknocker Ireland, New Zooland, and poor Africa. ...

Footnotes

  1. ↑  The population figures are based on List of countries by population.
  2. ↑  Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China
  3. ↑  Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia

 
 

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