List of territorial entities where English is an official language
Nr Country Region Population
1 Bahrain Asia / Middle East 1,378,000
2 Bangladesh Asia 150,039,000
3 Brunei Asia 415,717
4 Cambodia Asia 15,288,489
5 Cyprus Europe , Asia / Middle East 1,141,166
6 Eritrea Africa 6,234,000
7 Ethiopia Africa 85,000,000
8 Israel Asia / Middle East 8,051,200
9 Jordan Asia / Middle East 9,882,401
10 Kuwait Asia / Middle East 4,348,395
11 Malaysia Asia 30,018,242
12 Maldives Asia 427,756
13 Myanmar Asia 51,486,253
14 Oman Asia / Middle East 4,424,762
15 Qatar Asia / Middle East 2,675,522
16 Sri Lanka Asia 20,277,597
17 United Arab Emirates Asia / Middle East 5,779,760
Sovereign states
Countries where English is a de facto official language Nr Country Alpha-3 code Region Population Primary language ? 1 Australia AUS Oceania 25,019,600 Yes 2 New Zealand NZL Oceania 4,893,830 Yes 3 United Kingdom GBR Europe 66,040,229 Yes 4 United States USA North America/Oceania 328,239,523 Yes Countries where English is a de jure and de facto official language Nr Country Alpha-3 code Region Population Primary language ? 1 Antigua and Barbuda ATG Caribbean 85,000 Yes 2 Bahamas BHS Caribbean 331,000 Yes 3 Barbados BRB Caribbean 294,000 Yes 4 Belize BLZ Central America 288,000 Yes 5 Botswana BWA Africa 1,882,000 No 6 Burundi BDI Africa 10,114,505 No 7 Cameroon CMR Africa 22,534,532 No 8 Canada CAN North America 35,985,751 Yes ( except Quebec , northern New Brunswick and Nunavut ) 9 Cook Islands COK Oceania 20,000 Yes 10 Dominica DMA Caribbean 73,000 Yes 11 Eswatini SWZ Africa 1,141,000 No 12 Fiji FJI Oceania 828,000 Yes ( used as lingua franca , mostly and widely spoken , educational , commerce , and government ) 13 Gambia GMB Africa 1,709,000 No 14 Ghana GHA Africa 27,000,000 Yes ( used as lingua franca ) 15 Grenada GRD Caribbean 111,000 Yes ( except for small French Creole population ) 16 Guyana GUY South America 738,000 Yes 17 India IND Asia 1,247,540,000 No ( but official and educational ) 18 Ireland IRL Europe 4,900,000 Yes ( Irish is co-official ) 19 Jamaica JAM Caribbean 2,714,000 Yes 20 Kenya KEN Africa 45,010,056 Yes ( in business and education ) 21 Kiribati KIR Oceania 95,000 No 22 Lesotho LSO Africa 2,008,000 No 23 Liberia LBR Africa 3,750,000 Yes 24 Malawi MWI Africa 16,407,000 No 25 Malta MLT Europe 430,000 No ( but official and in business / education ) 26 Marshall Islands MHL Oceania 59,000 No 27 Mauritius MUS Africa / Indian Ocean 1,262,000 No 28 Micronesia FSM Oceania 110,000 No 29 Namibia NAM Africa 2,074,000 No ( used as lingua franca ) 30 Nauru NRU Oceania 10,000 No ( but widely spoken ) 31 Nigeria NGA Africa 182,202,000 Yes ( used as lingua franca ) 32 Niue NIU Oceania 1,600 No 33 Pakistan PAK Asia 212,742,631 No ( but official and educational ) 34 Palau PLW Oceania 20,000 No 35 Papua New Guinea PNG Oceania 7,059,653 Yes 36 Philippines PHL Asia 102,885,100 Yes ( co-official with Filipino ) 37 Rwanda RWA Africa 11,262,564 No ( but official and educational ) 38 Saint Kitts and Nevis KNA Caribbean 50,000 Yes 39 Saint Lucia LCA Caribbean 165,000 Yes 40 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VCT Caribbean 120,000 Yes 41 Samoa WSM Oceania 188,000 No 42 Seychelles SYC Africa / Indian Ocean 87,000 No 43 Sierra Leone SLE Africa 6,190,280 Yes 44 Singapore SGP Asia 5,469,700 Yes ( used as lingua franca , mostly and widely spoken , and educational ) 45 Solomon Islands SLB Oceania 507,000 No 46 South Africa ZAF Africa 54,956,900 No ( but official , educational and lingua franca in formal economy ) 47 South Sudan SSD Africa 12,340,000 No 48 Sudan SDN Africa 40,235,000 No 49 Tanzania TZA Africa 51,820,000 No 50 Tonga TON Oceania 100,000 No 51 Trinidad and Tobago TTO Caribbean 1,333,000 Yes 52 Tuvalu TUV Oceania 11,000 No 53 Uganda UGA Africa 37,873,253 No ( but official and educational ) 54 Vanuatu VUT Oceania 226,000 No 55 Zambia ZMB Africa 16,212,000 No 56 Zimbabwe ZWE Africa 13,061,239 No ( used as lingua franca )
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. 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 were 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 (ASEAN). 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.