List of territorial entities where English is an official language


The following is a list of territories where English is an official language, that is, a language used in citizen interactions with government officials., there were 55 sovereign states and 27 non-sovereign entities where English was an official language. Many country subdivisions have declared English an official language at the local or regional level.
The majority of states where English is an official language are former territories of the British Empire. Notable exceptions include Rwanda, which was formerly a Belgian territory, Cameroon, where only part of national territory was under British mandate, and Liberia, the Philippines, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, which were American territories. English is the sole official language of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. English is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, NAFTA, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Caribbean Community, Union of South American Nations and many other international organisations. Although English is de jure not an official language at the national level in the United States, most states and territories within the United States have English as an official language. Only Puerto Rico uses a language other than English as a primary working language.
The United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, where the overwhelming majority of native English speakers reside, do not have English as an official language de jure, but English is considered to be their de facto official language due to its dominant position in these countries.

Sovereign states

NrCountryAlpha-3 codeRegionPopulationPrimary language?
1ATGCaribbean85,000Yes
2BHSCaribbean331,000Yes
3BRBCaribbean294,000Yes
4BLZCentral America288,000Yes
5BWAAfrica1,882,000No
6BDIAfrica10,114,505No
7CMRAfrica22,534,532No
8CANNorth America35,985,751Yes
9COKOceania20,000Yes
10DMACaribbean73,000Yes
11SWZAfrica1,141,000No
12FJIOceania828,000Yes
13GMBAfrica1,709,000No
14GHAAfrica27,000,000Yes
15GRDCaribbean111,000Yes
16GUYSouth America738,000Yes
17INDAsia1,247,540,000No
18IRLEurope4,900,000Yes
19JAMCaribbean2,714,000Yes
20KENAfrica45,010,056Yes
21KIROceania95,000No
22LSOAfrica2,008,000No
23LBRAfrica3,750,000Yes
24MWIAfrica16,407,000No
25MLTEurope430,000No
26MHLOceania59,000No
27MUSAfrica / Indian Ocean1,262,000No
28FSMOceania110,000No
29NAMAfrica2,074,000No
30NRUOceania10,000No
31NGAAfrica182,202,000Yes
32NIUOceania1,600No
33PAKAsia212,742,631No
34PLWOceania20,000No
35PNGOceania7,059,653Yes
36PHLAsia102,885,100Yes
37RWAAfrica11,262,564No
38KNACaribbean50,000Yes
39LCACaribbean165,000Yes
40VCTCaribbean120,000Yes
41WSMOceania188,000No
42SYCAfrica / Indian Ocean87,000No
43SLEAfrica6,190,280Yes
44SGPAsia5,469,700Yes
45SLBOceania507,000No
46ZAFAfrica54,956,900Yes
47SSDAfrica12,340,000No
48SDNAfrica40,235,000No
49TZAAfrica51,820,000No
50TONOceania100,000No
51TTOCaribbean1,333,000Yes
52TUVOceania11,000No
53UGAAfrica37,873,253No
54VUTOceania226,000No
55ZMBAfrica16,212,000No
56ZWEAfrica13,061,239No

NrCountryRegionPopulation
1Asia / Middle East1,378,000
2Asia150,039,000
3Asia415,717
4Asia15,288,489
5Europe, Asia / Middle East1,141,166
6Africa6,234,000
7Africa85,000,000
8Asia / Middle East8,051,200
9Asia / Middle East9,882,401
10Asia / Middle East4,348,395
11Asia30,018,242
12Asia427,756
13Asia51,486,253
14Asia / Middle East4,424,762
15Asia / Middle East2,675,522
16Asia20,277,597
17Asia / Middle East5,779,760

Non-sovereign entities

EntityRegionPopulation
Indian Ocean3,000
Europe61,811
Caribbean5,900
South Atlantic5,660

EntityRegionPopulation
Australia1,508
Australia596
Oceania1,400

Country subdivisions

In these country subdivisions, English has de jure official status, but English is not official in their respective countries at the national level.
SubdivisionCountryRegionPopulation
North America4,833,722
North America735,132
North America6,626,624
North America2,959,373
North America38,332,521
North America5,268,367
North America21,299,325
Georgia North America10,519,475
Oceania1,404,054
North America1,612,136
North America12,882,135
North America6,570,902
North America3,090,416
North America2,893,957
North America4,395,295
North America6,794,422
North America2,991,207
North America6,083,672
North America1,015,165
North America1,868,516
North America1,323,459
North America9,848,060
North America723,393
Europe1,876,695
North America3,850,568
Caribbean1,991
South America75,167
Asia2,471,140
Europe5,424,800
Caribbean3,897
North America4,774,839
North America844,877
North America6,495,978
North America2,900,872
North America8,260,405
Europe3,125,000
North America1,844,128
North America582,658

Footnotes