Home - Languages - Languages of Australia

Languages of Australia

Official and Spoken Languages of Australia and the Pacifics

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

Countries of the Pacifics

CountryOfficial & National LanguagesOther spoken Languages
American SamoaEnglishSamoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), most people are bilingual
AustraliaEnglishnative languages
Cook IslandsEnglishMaori
FijiEnglishFijian, Hindustani
French PolynesiaFrenchTahitian
GuamEnglishChamorro, Japanese
KiribatiEnglishI-Kiribati
Marshall IslandsEnglish, Marshallese, (two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family)Japanese
Micronesia (Federated States of)EnglishTrukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi
NauruNauruan (a distinct Pacific Island language), EnglishEnglish is widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes
New CaledoniaFrench33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
New ZealandEnglish, Maori
NiueEnglishNiuean (a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan)
Northern Mariana IslandsEnglishChamorro, Carolinian, 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home
PalauEnglish and Palauan official in all states except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official)
Papua New GuineaHiri Motu (in Papua region), Tok Pisin, English (spoken by 1%-2%)Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca, 823! living indigenous languages
PitcairnEnglishPitcairnese (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect)
SamoaSamoan (Polynesian), English
Solomon IslandsEnglish is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the populationMelanesian pidgin is lingua franca in much of the country, 120 indigenous languages
TongaTongan, English
TuvaluEnglishTuvaluan, Samoan, I-Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
VanuatuEnglish, French, Bislama (Bichelama)plus more than 100 local languages