A map of the world according to the number of languages

On the subreddit Map Porn user 'glikithvinayaka' created a map of the world by the number of official languages.

Official status for languages can be extremely important, particularly in multi-lingual states.

Article 16 of Afghanistan’s Constitution states that the Afghan government gives equal status to Pashto and Dari as official languages.

While Eritrea’s constitution of 1997 does not state an official language but promises that all Eritrean languages will have equality.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Other nations such as the US and Mexico have no official language at the federal level.

Using data from CIA Factbook and InfoPlease, indy100 created its own map of this concept.

Picture:

Three Languages

• Belgium (Flemish, French, German)
• Bolivia (Spanish, Quechua, Aymara)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian)
• Rwanda (Kinyarwanda, French, English)
• Seychelles (Seselwa Creole, English, French)
• Switzerland (German, french, Italian)
• Vanuatu (Bislama, English, French)
• Papua New Guinea (Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, English)

Four Languages

• Austria (German nationwide, Slovene, Croatian, Hungarian each official in one region)
• Bahrain (Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu)
• Spain (Castilian Spanish nationwide, Catalan, Galician, Basque each official in one region)
• Singapore (Mandarin, English, Malay, Tamil)

Five Languages

• Palau (Palauan, English, Sonsoralese, Tobi, Angaur)

Eleven Languages

• South Africa (Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu)

Sixteen Languages

• India (Hindi, English, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi)