List of languages by the number of countries in which they are recognized as an official language

This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are de jure or de facto official.

Language World Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Countries
English 58 24 16 4 3 12 United States, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines, United Kingdom. See the full list
French 29 21 2 - 5 1 France, DRC, Canada, Madagascar. See the full list
Arabic 28 15 - 13 - - Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia. See the full list
Spanish 20 1 18 - 1 - Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina. See the full list
Portuguese 9 6 1 1 1 - Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola. See full list
German 6 - - - 6 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland. See full list
Italian 4 - - - 4 - Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City
Swahili 5 5 - - - - Tanzania, DRC, Kenya, Comoro, Uganda
Serbo-Croatian 5 - - - 5 - Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo*
Russian 4 - - 2 2 - Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan. See full list
Malay based 4 - - 4 - - Indonesia (known as Indonesian), Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei
Tamil 4 - - 4 - - Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, India (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry)
Chinese 3 - - 3 - - China, Singapore, Taiwan
Dutch 3 - 1 - 2 - Netherlands, Belgium, Surinam
Persian 3 - - 3 - - Iran, Afghanistan (known as Dari), Tajikistan (known as Tajik)
Quechua 3 - 3 - - - Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador
Turkish 3 - - 1 2 - Turkey, Cyprus, Northern Cyprus*
Romanian 3 - - - 3 - Romania, Moldova, Transnistria* (uses Cyrillic script there)

Several languages are officially used in two countries, these are:

Note
*Asterisks indicate countries whose independence is disputed
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