Languages in censuses

Many countries and national censuses currently enumerate or have previously enumerated their populations by languages, native language, home language, level of knowing language or a combination of these characteristics.

Afghanistan

Main article: Languages of Afghanistan

Pashto and Dari (Persian) are the official languages of Afghanistan; bilingualism is very common. Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family. Dari has always been the prestige language and a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communication. It is the native tongue of the Tajiks, Hazaras, Aimaks, and Kizilbash. Pashto is the native tongue of the Pashtuns, although many Pashtuns often use Dari and some non-Pashtuns are fluent in Pashto.

Other languages, including Uzbek, Arabic, Turkmen, Balochi, Pashayi, and Nuristani languages (Ashkunu, Kamkata-viri, Vasi-vari, Tregami, and Kalasha-ala), are the native tongues of minority groups across the country and have official status in the regions where they are widely spoken. Minor languages also include Pamiri (Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi, and Wakhi), Brahui, Hindko, and Kyrgyz. A small percentage of Afghans are also fluent in Urdu, English and other languages.

Language	World Factbook / Library of Congress Country Studies estimate
Dari	50%
Pashto	35%
Uzbek and Turkmen	11%
30 minor languages	4%

Azerbaijan

Native language according to the census in 2009

Language	Both genders	Male	Female
Total	8 922 447	4 414 398	4 508 049
Azerbaijani	8 253 196	4 101 575	4 151 621
Russian	122 449	45 538	76 911
Armenian	120 237	57 912	62 325
Talish	68 689	34 154	34 535
Avar	46 610	23 107	23 503
Turkish	32 064	16 465	15 599
Tatar	24 146	10 614	13 532
Tat	22 803	11 485	11 318
Ukrainian	20 988	9 456	11 532
Tsakhur	11 734	5 915	5 819
Georgian	10 356	4 978	5 378
Hebrew	8 493	4 046	4 447
Udi	3 795	1 839	1 956
Other	176 887	87 314	89 573

Belgium

Further information: Language legislation in Belgium

In the past, Belgium held a census each ten years, including a language census (nl/fr). Since 1932, the results of this census defined to which official language a municipality belonged (Dutch, French or German). However, this caused a lot of conflicts along the language border, in Brussels and its periphery (due to the Francization of Brussels). The territory of Belgium was consequently divided into four definitive official language areas and the language census was abolished, effective 1 September 1963. No national language censuses have been held since then.

Bolivia

According to the last census in 2012

Language	People
Spanish	6,097,122
Quechua	2,124,040
Aymara	1,462,286
Foreign	241,417
Guarani	57,218
Another Native	43,953
No talking	14,960

Brunei

>

Bulgaria

In the Bulgarian census, the question about the mother tongue and the ethnic group is an optional one. The results among the people that have answered both questions according to the latest census in 2011 are:

Language	People
Bulgarian	5,631,759
Turkish	604,246
Romani	280,979
Armenian	5,567
Russian	15,211
Romanian	5,454
Greek	3,182
Aromanian	1,815
Ukrainian	1,691
Macedonian	1,376
Tatar	1,367
Arabic	1,321
Hebrew	141
Other	9,946
Does not self-identify	47,458
Did not answer	753,057
Population	7,364,570

Czech Republic

The first official censuses for the Czech lands (then part Austria-Hungary) in the years 1869-1910 recorded each person's "language of communication" ("obcovací řeč"). This used to be criticised by linguistic minorities as representing the language of a person's surroundings rather than his or her own. The Czechoslovak censuses (1921, 1930, 1950, 1961, 1980) did not register respondents' language but "národnost" (ethnicity) which was to be assessed primarily, but not exclusively, on the basis of the person's "maternal tongue" ("mateřská řeč"). The 1970 census as well as modern censuses (1990, 2001, 2011) register both "ethnicity" and "maternal tongue" (which was, for example in the 2001 census, defined as "the language in which your mother or the persons having raised you spoke with you during your childhood"). The 2011 census form was the first to allow a person to claim two native languages. While certain options are habitually suggested in the form (in 2011: Czech, Slovak, Romani, Polish, German, sign language), the possibility "Other" can be chosen together with completing one's own specification. Unlike "ethnicity", this is an obligatory field in the form.

As the 2011 census introduced the possibility to state two native languages, the table below includes the number in both languages’ rows.

Language	2001 census	2011 census
Czech¹	9,707,397	9,530,518
Slovak	208,723	235,475
Polish	50,738	50,877
German	41,328	40,790
Romani	23,211	40,370
English	3,791	7,202
Arabic	—	2,671
Belarussian	—	826
Bosnian	—	726
Bulgarian	—	5,405
Chinese	—	3,422
French	—	2,056
Croatian	—	1,392
Italian	—	1,418
Hungarian	—	9,286
Moldavian	—	2,211
Mongolian	—	3,333
Romanian	—	2,711
Rusyn	—	777
Russian	18,746	31,622
Greek	—	1,362
Serbian	—	1,931
Spanish	—	1,916
Ukrainian	—	48,250
Vietnamese	—	30,830
Signing	—	7,216
Others, unknown	176,126	464,056

¹ Including Moravian language (62,908 in 2011)

Denmark

Danish censuses did not include inquires on languages. The last one was in 1970.

East Timor

Biggest language groups in sucos of East Timor.

Further information: Languages of East Timor

Speakers by mother tongue in census 2010.

• Official languages:
  • Tetum: 449,085
  • Portuguese: 595

• National languages:
  • Atauro (Wetarese, including Dadu'a, Rahesuk, Raklungu and Resuk): 8,400
  • Bekais (Becais, Welaun): 3,887
  • Bunak (Bunaq, Búnaque, Buna`, Bunake, Mgai, Gai, Marae): 55,837
  • Fataluku (Fataluco, Fatalukunu, Dagaga, Dagoda, Dagada): 37,779
  • Galoli (Galóli, Lo'ok, Galole, Galolen, Glolen): 13,066
  • Habun (Habo): 2,741
  • Idalaka (Idalaca, including Idaté, Lakalei, Isní und Lolein): 18,854
  • Kawaimina (Cauaimina, including Kairui, Waimaha, Midiki, Naueti): 49,096
  • Kemak (Ema, Quémaque): 61,969
  • Makuva (Makuwa, Maku'a, Lovaia, Lovaea): 56
  • Makalero (Macalero, Maklere): 7,802
  • Makasae (Macasae, Makasai, Makassai, Makassae, Macassai, Ma'asae, including Sa'ane): 101,854
  • Mambai (Mambae, Manbae): 131,361
  • Tokodede (Tocodede, Tukude, Tokodé, Tocod): 39,483
  • Baikeno (Dawan): 62,201

• Working languages:
  • English
  • Indonesian

• Extinct languages:
  • Rusenu

• Other languages:
  • Adabe: 181

Estonia

Further information: Languages of Estonia

According to the 2011 Population and Housing Census (PHC 2011) 157 (up from 109 in 2000) different languages are spoken as native language in Estonia. Of those 25 have more than 100 speakers.

Estonian is the official language of Estonia and 886,859 or 68.5% of permanent residents spoke it as native language. Russian is spoken by 383,062 (29.6%), Ukrainian by 8,012 (0.6%), Finnish by 2,617 (0.17%) and Belorussian by 1,663 (0.13%). Other languages have less than thousand speakers.

Faroe Islands

Further information: Languages of Denmark

There are two official languages in the Faroe Islands, Danish and Faroese. According to the public census Hagstova Føroya in 2014, more than 90 percent had Faroese as their first language. The entire list of spoken languages in 2014 is:

Faroese	45 361 (90.8%)
Danish	1546 (3.1%)
Icelandic	201 (0.4%)
English	190 (0.3%)
Filipino	103 (0.2%)
Norwegian	99 (0.2%)
Thai	86 (0.1%)
Romanian	67 (0.1%)
Greenlandic	62 (0.1%)
Serbian	57 (0.1%)
Russian	55 (0.1%)
Spanish	49 (0.1%)
Swedish	45 (0.09%)
Polish	40 (0.08%)
Chinese	29 (0.06%)

France

Further information: Languages of France

France recognizes but one language, French, declared national language. Other indigenous languages have no official status, although their teaching is tolerated in some places under specific conditions, and there has never been any question about languages in a French national census.

However, the March 1999 census was associated with an INSEE survey "Study of family history" for 380 thousand people, including questions about language transmission.

Germany

The census 2011 and the West-German census 1987 did not inquire about language.

Hungary

Starting from 1880 the Hungarian census system was based on native language (the language spoken at home in the early life of the person and at the time of the survey), vulgar language (the most frequently used language in the family), and other spoken languages.

Native language according to the last census in 2011

Language	1930 census	1970 census	1980 census	1990 census	2001 census	2011 census
Hungarian	8,000,335	10,152,366	10,579,898	10,222,529	9,546,374	8,409,049
Romani, beas	7,841	34,692	27,915	48,072	48,438	54,339
German	477,153	33,653	31,231	37,511	33,774	38,248
Romanian	16,221	12,356	10,141	8,730	8,482	13,886
Croatian	47,332	21,855	20,484	17,577	14,326	13,716
Slovakian	104,786	21,086	16,054	12,745	11,817	9,888
Serbian	7,031	11,177	3,426	2,953	3,388	3,708
Ukrainian	...	...	...	674	4,885	3,384
Polish	5,161	...	...	3,788	2,580	3,049
Bulgarian	2,816	...	...	1,370	1,299	2,899
Greek	82	...	...	1,640	1,921	1,872
Slovenian	5,464	3,791	3,142	2,627	3,180	1,723
Rusin	996	...	...	...	1,113	999
Armenian	122	...	...	37	294	444
Russian	...	...	...	3,902	3,257	7,382
Chinese	15	...	...	204	2,414	5,819
Arabian	...	...	...	1,456	1,438	2,929
Vietnamese	...	...	...	1,258	1,085	2,674
Other languages	...	15,083	17,172	8,944	36,270	21,657
Unknown	-	-	-	-	541,106	1,443,840
Population	8,685,109	10,300,996	10,709,463	10,374,823	10,198,315	9,937,628

Indonesia

Indonesian is an official language but there are so many different languages native to Indonesia. According to Ethnologue, there are currently about 737 living languages, the most widely spoken being Javanese languages.

A number of Chinese dialects, most prominently Min Nan, are also spoken. The public use of Chinese, especially Chinese characters, was officially discouraged between 1966 and 1998.

Iraq

Arabic is the majority language while Kurdish is spoken by approximately 10–15% of the population and Turkmen, the Neo-Aramaic language of the Assyrians and others, by 5%. Other smaller minority languages includes Mandaic, Shabaki, Armenian, Circassian and Persian. Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, and South Azeri are written with versions of the Arabic script, the Neo-Aramaic languages in the Syriac script and Armenian is written in the Armenian script.

Previously to the invasion in 2003, Arabic was the sole official language. Since the new Constitution of Iraq was approved in June 2004, both Arabic and Kurdish are an official languages, while Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Turkmen language (referred to as respectively "Syriac" and "Turkmen" in the constitution) are recognized as a regional languages. In addition, any region or province may declare other languages official if a majority of the population approves in a general referendum.

Based on the Iraqi constitution: "The Arabic language and the Kurdish language are the two official languages of Iraq. The right of Iraqis to educate their children in their mother tongue, such as Turkmen, Assyrian, and Armenian shall be guaranteed in government educational institutions in accordance with educational guidelines, or in any other language in private educational institutions".

Ireland

Questions relating to the ability to speak the Irish Language are included in the census. The figures obtained have been criticised as inflated by cognitive biases, such as response bias or wishful thinking. The 2006 census included an additional question on frequency of speaking Irish.

Italy

Censuses in Italy do not inquire about language.

Japan

More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. Japanese is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker and listener. Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Chinese characters), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals.

Besides Japanese, other languages like Ryukyuan languages (Amami, Kunigami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama, Yonaguni), also part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands chain. Few children learn these languages, but in recent years the local governments have sought to increase awareness of the traditional languages. The Okinawan Japanese dialect is also spoken in the region. The Ainu language, which has no proven relationship to Japanese or any other language, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaido. Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English.

Luxembourg

Some figures from the 2011 census:

Main language spoken as of 1 Febrary 2011 (in %)

Main language	%
Luxembourgish	55,8
Portuguese	15,7
French	12,1
German	3,1
Italian	2,9
Other languages	8,4
Total	100

Source: STATEC - RP2011, Langue principale parlée au 1er février 2011, en %

Languages spoken at work, at school and/or at home on 1 February 2011 (multiple answers possible)

Languages	Number op people	%
Luxembourgish	323.557	70,5
French	255.669	55,7
German	140.590	30,6
English	96.427	21,0
Portuguese	91.872	20,0
Italian	28.561	6,2
other languages	55.298	12,1
Total	458.900	100,0

Source : STATEC - RP2011: Langues parlées au travail, à l’école et/ou à la maison au 1er février 2011 (réponses multiples possibles)

Number of languages spoken at work, at school and/or at home, as of 1 February 2011

Number of languages	number of persons	percentage
1	182.609	39,79
2	119.103	25,95
3	79.651	17,36
4	58.642	12,78
5	16.212	3,53
6	2.203	0,48
7	480	0,10
Average 2,2

Source : STATEC - RP2011: Nombre de langues parlées au 1er février 2011

Macedonia

Further information: Languages of the Republic of Macedonia

As of the last national census in 2002, of the republic's 2,022,547 people, 67% speak Macedonian as their mother tongue. The next most common mother tongue is Albanian with 25% of the population. Other minority languages include Turkish (3.6%), Romani (1.9%), and the Serbo-croatian languages (1.6%).

Malaysia

Further information: Languages of Malaysia

The national or official language is Malay which is the mother tongue of the majority Malay ethnic group. The main ethnic groups within Malaysia comprise the Malays, Chinese and Indians, with many other ethnic groups represented in smaller numbers, each with its own languages. The largest native languages spoken in East Malaysia are the Iban, Dusunic and the Kadazan languages. English is widely understood in service industries and is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary school. It is also the main language spoken in most private colleges and universities. Beside that, English may take precedence over Malay in certain official contexts as provided for by the National Language Act, especially in the states of Sabah and Sarawak, where it may be the official working language.

Malaysia contains speakers of 137 living languages, 41 of which are found in Peninsula Malaysia. The government provides schooling at the primary level in each of the three major languages, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil. Within these three there are a number of dialectal differences.

Norway

In the Norwegian census of 1970, in limited areas in Northern Norway, people were identified by ethnicity and language. Such information has not been included in any census since then.

Poland

In the 2002 census and 2011 census was the possibility to state more than one home languages, while in 2011 census was also possibility to state native languages; the table below includes the number in all languages’ rows.

Language	2002 census (home language)	2011 census (home language)	2011 census (native language)
Polish	37,405,335	37,815,606	37,656,090
English	89,874	103,541	5,624
Belarussian	40,650	26,448	17,480
French	15,282	10,677	3,488
Kashubian	52,665	108,140	13,799
German	204,573	96,461	58,170
Romani	15,788	14,468	8,612
Russian	15,299	19,805	17,048
Silesian	56,643	529,377	140,012
Ukrainian	22,698	24,539	28,172
Italian	12,001	10,295	2,207
Unknown	772,223	519,698	521,842
Population	38,230,080	38,511,824	38,511,824

Romania

According to the last census in 2011

Language	People
Total	20,121,641
Romanian	17,176,544
Hungarian	1,259,914
Romani	245,677
Ukrainian	48,910
German	26,557
Turkish	25,302
Russian	18,946
Tatar	17,677
Serbian	16,805
Slovak	12,802
Bulgarian	6,518
Croatian	5,167
Italian	2,949
Greek	2,561
Czech	2,174
Polish	2,079
Chinese	2,039
Macedonian	769
Armenian	739
Hebrew	643
Other	16,841
Information not available	1,230,028

Singapore

Native languages (mother tongues) of Singaporeans
Language			Percent
Mandarin Chinese			50%
English			32%
Malay			12%
Tamil			3%

Singapore has four official languages. The four languages that are recognised by the Singapore Government are: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. They were chosen to correspond with the major ethnic groups present in Singapore at the time as well as for the following reasons: Mandarin had gained status since the introduction of Chinese-medium schools; Malay was deemed the "most obvious choice" for the Malay community; and Tamil for the largest Indian ethnic group in Singapore, in addition to being "the language with the longest history of education in Malaysia and Singapore". In 2009, more than 20 languages were identified as being spoken in Singapore, reflecting a rich linguistic diversity in the city. Singapore's historical roots as a trading settlement gave rise to an influx of foreign traders, and their languages were slowly embedded in Singapore's modern day linguistic repertoire.

South Africa

See also: Languages of South Africa

Thirteen options are provided in response to the question "Which two languages does (name) speak most often in this household?", namely the eleven official languages, sign language and "Other".

Switzerland

Languages of Switzerland, red German, blue French, green Italian, yellow Romansh

See also: Languages of Switzerland

From 1850 until 2000, Switzerland had a census every 10 years. Beginning in 2010, they switched to a yearly system which used a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. Data on the main language spoken by citizens and non-citizen residents has been collected since at least 1970. Of the four official languages, German is the most commonly spoken, with 64.94% of the total population speaking it in 1970 and 63.67% in 2000. French was spoken by 18.09% in 1970 and 20.38% in 2000, while Italian was 11.86% in 1970 and 6.46% in 2000. The fourth national language, Romansh was spoken by just 0.8% in 1970 and 0.48% in 2000. In the 2000 census, English (1.01%), Spanish (1.06%), Portuguese (1.23%), Serbian and Croatian (1.42%) and Albanian (1.30%) were all spoken by significantly more residents than Romansh.

Selected languages from the 1970 to 2000 census are given in the following table:

Census	German	French	Italian	Romansh	English	Dutch	Spanish	Slavic (Except Czech and Slovak)	Czech and Slovak
1970	4,071,289	1,134,010	743,760	50,339	32,509	11,935	123,708	30,429	13,028
1980	4,140,901	1,172,502	622,226	51,128	38,494	13,228	118,169	65,779	14,570
1990	4,374,694	1,321,695	524,116	39,632	60,786	11,895	116,818	119,541	8,552
2000	4,640,359	1,485,056	470,961	35,095	73,425	11,840	77,506	120,853	7,462

Syria

Arabic is an official language of Syria. Several modern Arabic dialects are used in everyday life, most notably Levantine in the west and Mesopotamian in the northeast. Kurdish (in its Kurmanji form) is widely spoken in the Kurdish regions of Syria. Armenian and Turkish (South Azeri dialect) are spoken among the Armenian and Turkmen minorities.

Aramaic was the lingua franca of the region before the advent of Arabic, and it is still spoken among Assyrians, and Classical Syriac still used as the liturgical language of various Syriac Christian denominations. Most remarkably, Western Neo-Aramaic is still spoken in the village of Ma'loula as well as two neighboring villages, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Damascus. Many educated Syrians also speak English and French languages.

Turkey

Main article: Languages of Turkey

Mother Tongue in Turkey

Mother Tongue	Percentage
Turkish	84.54
Kurmanji	11.97
Arabic	1.38
Zazaki	1.01
Other Turkic languages	0.28
Balkan languages	0.23
Laz	0.12
Circassian	0.11
Armenian	0.07
Caucasian languages	0.07
Greek	0.06
Nordic Languages	0.04
West European languages	0.03
Jewish languages	0.01
Other	0.09

Turkmenistan

People in Turkmenistan (when it was still a part of the Russian Empire) were enumerated by native tongue in the 1897 Russian Empire Census. In addition to the Soviet Union enumerating people by ethnicity for its entire existence, Turkmenistan also enumerated people by ethnicity in its only post-Soviet census in 1995.

Ukraine

Ethnolinguistic composition of Ukraine.

See also: Censuses in Ukraine, Legislation on languages in Ukraine, and Languages of Ukraine

People in Ukraine (when it was still a part of the Russian Empire) were enumerated by native tongue in the 1897 Russian Empire Census. In addition to the Soviet Union enumerating people by ethnicity for its entire existence, Ukraine also enumerated people by ethnicity and native language in its only post-Soviet census in 2001.

Native language of the population of Ukraine according to the 2001 census.

Language	Number of speakers	Percent of population
Ukrainian	32,577,468	67.53%
Russian	14,273,670	29.59%
Crimean Tatar	231,382	0.48%
Moldovan	185,032	0.38%
Hungarian	161,618	0.34%
Romanian	142,671	0.30%
Bulgarian	134,396	0.28%
Belarusian	56,249	0.12%
Armenian	51,847	0.11%
Gagauz	23,765	0.05%
Romani	22,603	0.05%
Other language	178,764	0.38%
Did not answer	201,437	0.42%

Uzbekistan

People in Uzbekistan (when it was still a part of the Russian Empire) were enumerated by native tongue in the 1897 Russian Empire Census. The Soviet Union (to which Uzbekistan also belonged) enumerated people by ethnicity for its entire existence. Uzbekistan has not conducted any censuses at all since 1989.

Vatican City

Vatican City enumerated people by ethnicity in 1948.

Vietnam

People in Vietnam were enumerated by ethnicity in 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2014.

Yemen

Ethnoreligious composition of Yemen in 2002.

Yemen enumerated its population by ethnicity in 1994. The British Colony of Aden (which is within Yemen's current borders) enumerated its population by ethnicity in 1946 and 1955.

See also

• Demographics
• Demography
• Population and housing censuses by country
• Race and ethnicity in censuses