List of territorial entities where English is an official language

Anglosphere countries are those where English is the main native language.

The following is a list of territories where English is an official language. As of 2019, there were 55 sovereign states and 27 non-sovereign states where English was an official language.

Overview
British Empire
Most countries where English is a prominent or official language are former colonies of the British Empire. Notable exceptions include Rwanda, which was a former Belgian colony, and Eritrea, which was an Italian colony where the British Empire controlled it only in World War II and shortly after (19411952).

English is the sole official language of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Commonwealth Games. 
International organizations
English is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union and the International Olympic Committee.

United States
Although English is not classified as an official language in the United States, many states and regions within the U.S. do have English as an official language.
India
India's linguistic picture is complex. According to the Constitution of India, "Hindi in the Devanagari script" is the official language of the union; and English the 'subsidiary official language'; however, English must be used for the official texts of all federal laws and Supreme Court decisions (with Hindi). It is one of the two languages of the Indian Parliament. English is taught in schools. The quality and effectiveness of the teaching is very varied.English language education in rural schools of India: the situation, the policy and the curriculum. British Council, Teaching English    English is used almost exclusively for higher education.
Pakistan
The situation of Pakistan is also complex. While the national language is Urdu, English is an official language and used in business, government and law.

Sovereign states
+ Countries where English is a de facto official language  Country Region Population Primary language?  Oceania 25,019,600 Yes  Oceania 4,893,830 Yes  Europe 66,040,229 Yes  North America 325,719,178 Yes

+ Countries where English is a de jure official language Country Region Population Primary language? Official language;   Caribbean 85,000 Yes  Caribbean 331,000 Yes  Caribbean 294,000 Yes English usage;  Central America 288,000 Yes   Africa 1,882,000 No  Africa 10,114,505 No  Africa 22,534,532 No  North America 35,985,751 Yes (except Quebec, northern New Brunswick and Nunavut)  Oceania 20,000 Yes  Caribbean 73,000 Yes  Africa 1,141,000 No  Oceania 828,000 Yes (used as lingua franca, mostly and widely spoken, educational, commerce, and government)  Africa 1,709,000 No  Africa 27,000,000 Yes (used as lingua franca)  Caribbean 111,000 Yes (except for small French Creole population)  South America 738,000 Yes  Asia 1,247,540,000 No (but official and educational) The Constitution Europe 4,900,000 Yes (Irish is co-official) The Constitution of Jamaica (section 20(6e) ? implicit) Caribbean 2,714,000 Yes  Africa 45,010,056 Yes (in business and education)  Oceania 95,000 No  Africa 2,008,000 No  Africa 3,750,000 Yes  Africa 16,407,000 No  Europe 430,000 No (but official and educational)  Oceania 59,000 No	 	 Africa / Indian Ocean	 1,262,000 No  Oceania 110,000 No  Africa 2,074,000 No (used as lingua franca)  English and Nauruan are official. Oceania 10,000 No  Africa 182,202,000 Yes (used as lingua franca)  Oceania 1,600 No  Asia 199,085,847 No (but official and educational)  Oceania 20,000 No  Oceania 7,059,653 No  (See Article XIV, Section 7) Asia 102,885,100 No (but official and educational)  Africa 11,262,564 No (but official and educational)  Caribbean 50,000 Yes  Caribbean 165,000 Yes  Caribbean 120,000 Yes  Languages for official legislation are Samoan and English. Oceania 188,000 No  Africa / Indian Ocean 87,000 No  Africa 6,190,280 Yes  Asia 5,469,700 Yes (used as lingua franca, mostly and widely spoken, and educational)   Oceania 507,000 No  Africa 54,956,900 No (but official, educational and lingua franca in formal economy )  Africa 12,340,000 No  Africa 40,235,000 No  Africa 51,820,000 No  English and Tongan are listed as official. Oceania 100,000 No Caribbean 1,333,000 Yes  Oceania 11,000 No  Africa 37,873,253 No (official and educational)  Oceania 226,000 No  Africa 16,212,000 No  Africa 13,061,239 No (used as lingua franca)

+ Countries where English is a de facto official language, but not primary language  Country Region Population  Asia / Middle East 1,378,000"[T]eaching of English continued in primary, secondary and tertiary level not because it was the official language but it became thelanguage of trade and commerce. Over the years, the prominence of English continued to rise. ... English language is dominantly present in every side of our national life while on the other hand in our constitution it is clearly declared that the language of the country is Bengali. In fact, nothing is said about the status of English language in our constitution. On one hand, economic activities in the private companies are carried out in English while there is a government law (Bengali procholon ain1987) that government offices must use Bengali in their official works. So from the government point of view Bengali is the national-official language of Bangladesh and English is the most important foreign language. But in reality English is the second language of the country and in many places English is more important than Bengali in Bangladesh." https://www.scribd.com/doc/53272796/Sucess-of-English-language-in-Bangladesh-rec Asia 150,039,000 English is a "Statutory national working language." Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2013. "Brunei."  Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online edition: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/BN Accessed 30 March 2014.Under the constitution of 1959, Malay is the official language of Brunei; but English may be used "for all official purposes."  Laws are written in English and Malay, with the English version being the authoritative one.   Asia 415,717  Europe, Asia / Middle East  1,141,166  Africa 6,234,000  Africa 85,000,000  North America 56,367  Europe 366,425  Asia / Middle East 8,051,200 " English, though without official status, is widely spoken throughout the country and is the de facto language of commerce and banking, as well as a co-official status in the education sector; almost all university-level classes are held in English and almost all public schools teach English along with Standard Arabic."   Asia / Middle East 9,882,401 " English is widely spoken. It is used in business and is a compulsory second language in schools."  Asia / Middle East 4,348,395 "English remains an active second language, and serves as the medium of instruction for maths and sciences in all public schools. Malaysian English, also known as Malaysian Standard English, is a form of English derived from British English. Malaysian English is widely used in business, along with Manglish, which is a colloquial form of English with heavy Malay, Chinese, and Tamil influences. The government discourages the misuse of Malay and has instituted fines for public signs that mix Malay and English."  Asia 30,018,242 "Other languages spoken in Maldives include English, which is also recognized as the second main language. Initially, Dhivehi was used as the medium of teaching in schools, but the need to promote higher education led to the conversion of syllabus in English. Now, English is widely spoken by the locals of Maldives."  Asia 427,756 Lintner, Bertil (2003), "Myanmar/Burma", in MacKerras, Colin, Ethnicity in Asia, Routledge,  Asia 51,486,253  Asia / Middle East 2,675,522 English is a "De facto national working language, used in government." Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2013. "Sri Lanka." Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online edition: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/LK Accessed 30 March 2014.Under the constitution of 1978, Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of Sri Lanka, but English is "the link language."  Any person is entitled "to receive communications from, and to communicate and transact business with, any official in his official capacity" in English, to receive an English translation of "any official register, record, publication or other document," and "to communicate and transact business in English."  English translations must be made for "all laws and subordinate legislation," "all Orders, Proclamations, rules, by-laws, regulations and notifications."  Asia 20,277,597  Asia / Middle East 5,779,760

Non-sovereign entities
+ Non-sovereign entities where English is a de jure official language Entity Region Population Primary language  Europe 15,700 No  Oceania 67,700 No  Caribbean 13,101 Yes  North America 65,000 Yes  Caribbean 23,000 Yes  Caribbean 47,000 Yes  Caribbean 150,563 No  South Atlantic 3,000 Yes  Europe 33,000 No  Oceania 173,000 No (<50% of population)  Asia 7,097,600 No (Cantonese mostly spoken)  Europe 80,058 Yes  Europe 89,300 Yes  Australia 1,828 Yes  Oceania 53,883 No  Oceania 50 Yes  Caribbean 3,991,000 No (Spanish is the primary language) According to Art. 1 para 2. Constitution of Sint Maarten : "The official languages are Dutch and English" Caribbean 40,900 Yes  Caribbean 26,000 Yes  Caribbean 111,000 Yes

+ Non-sovereign entities where English is a de facto official language  Entity Region Population  Indian Ocean 3,000  Europe 61,811  Caribbean 5,900  South Atlantic 5,660

+ Non-sovereign entities where English is a de facto official, but not primary, language  Entity Region Population  Australia 1,508  Australia 596  Oceania1,400

Country subdivisions
In these country subdivisions, English has de jure official status, but English is not official in their relevant countries at the national level.

+ Country subdivisions where English is a de jure official languageSubdivisionCountryRegionPopulationNorth America 4,833,722North America 735,132North America 6,626,624North America 2,959,373North America 38,332,521North America 5,268,367North America 19,552,860North America 9,992,167Oceania 1,404,054North America 1,612,136North America 12,882,135North America 6,570,902North America 3,090,416North America 2,893,957North America 4,395,295North America 4,670,724North America 6,794,422North America 2,991,207North America 6,083,672North America 1,015,165North America 1,868,516North America 1,323,459North America 9,848,060North America 723,393Europe 1,876,695North America 3,850,568English can be used in relations with the governmentCaribbean 1,991South America 75,167Asia 2,471,140Europe  5,424,800Caribbean 3,897North America 4,774,839North America 844,877North America 6,495,978North America 27,469,114North America 2,900,872North America 8,260,405Europe 3,125,000North America 1,844,128North America 582,658

Related pages
Anglo-America
Commonwealth of Nations
British Overseas Territories
English-speaking world
List of countries by English-speaking population
British Empire

Footnotes
 The population figures are based on the sources in List of countries by population, with information as of 23 January 2009 (UN estimates, et al.).
 In 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to make English the official language of the U.S., but executive orders do not apply to the entire government and are not laws.
Hong Kong is a former British Crown colony (1843-1981) and British Dependent Territory (1981-1997); it is currently a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (1997- present)
Puerto Rico is, historically and culturally, connected to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean; Spanish is also an official language on the island. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated United States territory referred to as a "Commonwealth"
Guam is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States
The US Virgin Islands is an insular area of the United States
Jersey is a British Crown dependency
The Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the United States
Isle of Man is a British Crown dependency
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory
Guernsey is a British Crown dependency
American Samoa is an unincorporated U.S. territory
Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia
Pitcairn Islands is a British Overseas Territory
The Cook Islands and Niue are associated states of New Zealand that are not really known.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands is an external territory of Australia

References

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Countries
Category:Language-related lists
Category:Lists of countries