Official and Spoken Languages of Australia and the Pacifics

List of official, national and spoken languages of the Pacifics.

Countries of the Pacifics

Country Official & National Languages Other spoken Languages
American Samoa English Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), most people are bilingual
Australia English native languages
Cook Islands English Maori
Fiji English Fijian, Hindustani
French Polynesia French Tahitian
Guam English Chamorro, Japanese
Kiribati English I-Kiribati
Marshall Islands English, Marshallese, (two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family) Japanese
Micronesia (Federated States of) English Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi
Nauru Nauruan (a distinct Pacific Island language), English English is widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes
New Caledonia French 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
New Zealand English, Maori
Niue English Niuean (a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan)
Northern Mariana Islands English Chamorro, Carolinian, 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home
Papua New Guinea Hiri Motu (in Papua region), Tok Pisin, English (spoken by 1%-2%) Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, 823! living indigenous languages
Pitcairn English Pitcairnese (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect)
Samoa Samoan (Polynesian), English
Solomon Islands English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population Melanesian pidgin is lingua franca in much of the country, 120 indigenous languages
Tonga Tongan, English
Tuvalu English Tuvaluan, Samoan, I-Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Vanuatu English, French, Bislama (Bichelama) plus more than 100 local languages


Contact Details

Soror Language Services “SLS”
Johannesburg 2040

Tel: +27 11 793-6677
Cell: +27 83 301-6409