| OMAN |
The official language is Arabic. |
| PAKISTAN |
The national language is Urdu.
However, only a comparatively small portion of the population
speak it as their first language. The most common first language
is Punjabi (spoken by approximately half of the
population). Pakistani Punjabi is broadly the same as that
spoken in India. However, it tends to overlap with more regional
dialects such as Pahari and Mirpuri. Other
languages include Sindhi and Pashto. |
| PANAMA |
The official language is Spanish. |
| PAPUA NEW
GUINEA |
More than 700 indigenous
languages are spoken on more than 600 islands. The most common
languages are Pidgin English and Motu. |
| PARAGUAY |
The official languages are Spanish
and Guarani. |
| PERU |
The official languages are Spanish
and Quechue. |
| PHILIPPINES |
The official languages are Filipino
and English. Of the main dialects the most common is Tagalog. |
| POLAND |
The official language is
Polish. |
| PORTUGAL |
The official language is Portuguese. |
| QATAR |
The official language is Arabic. |
| ROMANIA |
The official language is
Romanian. |
| RUSSIA |
The official language is Russian. |
| RWANDA |
The official languages are English,
French and Kinyarwanda (the universally spoken
indigenous language). Kiswahili may also be spoken by the
professional classes. |
| SAUDI ARABIA |
The official language is Arabic. |
| SENEGAL |
The official language is French.
The main indigenous languages are Jola, Mandinka, Pulaar
and Wolof. |
| SIERRA LEONE |
Although the official
language, English is spoken on a regular basis only by the
educated elite. The most widely spoken languages are Mende,
Temne and Crio ( a Creole variant spoken by
freed Jamaican slave settlers). |
| SINGAPORE |
The official languages are Chinese
(Mandarin dialect) , English, Malay
and Tamil. |
| SOMALIA |
The official language is Somali.
However, this name embraces a range of localised dialects which
may be mutually unintelligible! Some Somalis may also be fluent
in Arabic or Italian (Italy was the colonial power
in Southern Somalia until independence in 1960). |
| SOUTH AFRICA |
There are 11 official
languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi,
Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda,
Xhosa and Zulu. |
| SPAIN |
The official language is Spanish. |
| SRI LANKA |
The official language is Sinhala.
A significant proportion of the population are native Tamil
speakers. The Tamil spoken in Sri Lanka is largely compatible
with that spoken in SE India. |
| SUDAN |
The official language is Arabic.
However, an Arabic interpreter of Middle Eastern origin would
experience difficulty conversing with a local speaker.
Indigenous languages (largely spoken in the South of the country)
include Bari, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk
and Zande. |
| SURINAM |
The official language is Dutch. |
| SWAZILAND |
The official languages are English
and Siswati. |
| SWEDEN |
The official language is Swedish. |
| SWITZERLAND |
The official languages are French,
German and Italian. |
| SYRIA |
The official language is Arabic. |
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