This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "List of countries and territories where Afrikaans or Dutch are official languages" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Legal statuses Afrikaans and Dutch:
  Countries where Dutch is the majority language
  Countries where Dutch is an official or recognized language
  Countries where Afrikaans is an official or recognized language
  Dutch is a former official or recognized language of these countries

Percentages of Afrikaans and Dutch speakers (assuming a rounded total of 46 million) worldwide.

  Native Dutch (47.8%)
  Native Afrikaans (15.5%)
  Afrikaans as second language (22.4%)
  Dutch as second language (14.3%)

The following is a list of the countries and territories where Afrikaans or Dutch are official languages. It includes countries, which have Afrikaans and/or Dutch as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent territories with Afrikaans and/or Dutch as a co-official language.

Worldwide, Afrikaans and Dutch as native or second language are spoken by approximately 46 million people. There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages,[1][2][3] particularly in written form.[4][5][6] As an estimated 90 to 95% of Afrikaans vocabulary is ultimately of Dutch origin,[7][8][9] there are few lexical differences between the two languages;[10] however, Afrikaans has a considerably more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling.[1][5]

Afrikaans or Dutch as official languages

Afrikaans and/or Dutch are the official language of five sovereign countries, which lie in the Americas, Africa and Europe. These countries are referred to as the Nederlands taalgebied (Dutch language area). The Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname are member states of the Dutch Language Union; South Africa refuses to become a member state although Afrikaans is integrated in the task statement of the Dutch Language Union.[citation needed]

Country Population
2011[11] 		Speakers Notes
L1[12][13][14] L2[12][13][14]
 Belgium
Dutch
11,303,000 6,215,000 (55%) 1,469,000 (13%) De jure nationwide co-official language (majority language in Flemish Region and minority in Brussels-Capital Region)
 Namibia
Afrikaans
2,113,000 220,000 (10,4%) lingua franca Recognized national language
 Netherlands
Dutch
17,116,000 16,431,360 (96%) 687,000 (4%) De jure sole nationwide official language
 South Africa
Afrikaans
51,770,000 6,860,000 (14%) 10,300,000 (19%) De jure nationwide co-official language
 Suriname
Dutch
540,000 325,000 (60%) 215,000 (40%) De jure sole nationwide official language
Total c. 82,834,000 c. 29,069,000 c. 12,671,000+

Dependent entities

Afrikaans and/or Dutch are co-official languages in several dependent entities. At certain administrative levels in the Kingdoms of the Netherlands and Belgium the Dutch language is a co-official language. The same happens with Afrikaans in South Africa.[citation needed]

Kingdom of the Netherlands

In the Kingdom of the Netherlands Dutch is the only language that has an official status in all spheres of administration. At the federal level, in most provinces and municipalities Dutch is the sole administrative language. However, in some constituent countries, a province and some municipalities Dutch is a co-official language, together with West Frisian, Papiamento or English.[citation needed]

Region Status of the region Status of the language
 Aruba constituent country Dutch is a co-official language, together with Papiamento[15]
 Curaçao constituent country Dutch is a co-official language, together with Papiamento and English[15]
 Netherlands constituent country Dutch is the official language.[16] Only Friesland and the Caribbean Netherlands have co-official languages.
 Friesland province Dutch is a co-official language, together with West Frisian[15]
 Bonaire municipality Dutch is a co-official language, together with Papiamento[15]
 Sint Eustatius municipality Dutch is a co-official language, together with English[15]
 Saba municipality Dutch is a co-official language, together with English[15]
 Sint Maarten constituent country Dutch is a co-official language, together with English[15]

Belgium

At the federal level Dutch, French and German are co-official languages. In the Flanders Region Dutch is the sole official language. In Brussels-Capital Region Dutch and French are co-official languages. In the Wallonia Region French and German are co-official languages, but in four municipalities with language facilities limited government services are also available in Dutch.[citation needed]

Region Status of the region Status of the language
 Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen) Region Dutch is the sole official language. In 12 municipalities limited government services are also available in French[citation needed]
 Brussels-Capital Region (Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest) Region Dutch and French are co-official languages[citation needed]
 Wallonia (Dutch: Wallonië) Region French and German are the sole official language in different areas. In 4 municipalities limited government services are also available in Dutch[citation needed]
Comines-Warneton (Dutch: Komen-Waasten) municipality French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch[citation needed]
Enghien (Dutch: Edingen) municipality French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch[citation needed]
Flobecq (Dutch: Vloesberg) municipality French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch[citation needed]
 Mouscron (Dutch: Moeskroen) municipality French is the sole official language, but limited government services are also available in Dutch[citation needed]

South Africa

Between 1910 and 1961 Dutch was a co-official language of South Africa, together with English. In 1961 Dutch was replaced by Afrikaans as a co-official language. However, between 1925 and 1984 Dutch and Afrikaans were seen as two varieties of the same language by the Official Languages of the Union Act, 1925 and later article 119 of the South African Constitution of 1961. After a short period (1984-1994) where Afrikaans and English were the two co-official languages of South Africa, Afrikaans has been one of eleven official languages since 1994.[citation needed]

Since 2012 a new language policy has been implemented where working languages of all government institutions were established. Every government institution is required to establish three working languages out of the eleven official languages. Provinces and municipalities are obligated to take into account the local language demographics before establishing three working languages.[citation needed]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2017)
Region Status of the region Status of the language
Western Cape (Afrikaans: Wes-Kaap) province Afrikaans is a co-official language, together with English and Xhosa[citation needed]
City of Cape Town (Afrikaans: Stad Kaapstad) municipality Afrikaans is a co-official language, together with English and Xhosa. Afrikaans is the mother tongue of half of the population[citation needed]
Northern Cape (Afrikaans: Noord-Kaap) province Afrikaans is a co-official language, together with Tswhana, Xhosa and English. Afrikaans is the mother tongue of the majority of the population[citation needed]

Status in other regions

Dutch is not an official language in Indonesia, but the language is widely used in Indonesia as a source language after a 350-year colonial period. Certainly in law, Dutch has some official status as many colonial laws are available in Dutch only.[citation needed]

Although Dutch is the native language of people in French Flanders, Dutch is not an official language in France or French Flanders.[citation needed]

International institutions

Afrikaans and/or Dutch are an official languages of the following international institutions:[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Holm, Jdohn A. (1989). Pidgins and Creoles: References survey. Cambridge University Press. p. 338. ISBN 9780521359405. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  2. ^ Baker, Colin; Prys Jones, Sylvia (1997). Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education. Multilingual Matters Ltd. p. 302. ISBN 9781853593628. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  3. ^ Egil Breivik, Leiv; Håkon Jahr, Ernst (1987). Language change: contributions to the study of its causes. Walter de Gruyter. p. 232. ISBN 9783110119954. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  4. ^ Sebba, Mark (2007). Spelling and society: the culture and politics of orthography around the world. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139462020. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  5. ^ a b Sebba, Mark (1997). Contact languages: pidgins and creoles. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780312175719. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  6. ^ Gooskens, Charlotte (2007). "The Contribution of Linguistic Factors to the Intelligibility of Closely Related Languages" (PDF). Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Volume 28, Issue 6 November 2007. University of Groningen. pp. 445–467. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  7. ^ Mesthrie, Rajend (1995). Language and Social History: Studies in South African Sociolinguistics. New Africa Books. p. 214. ISBN 9780864862808. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  8. ^ Brachin, Pierre; Vincent, Paul (1985). The Dutch Language: A Survey. Brill Archive. p. 132. ISBN 9004075933. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  9. ^ Mesthrie, Rajend (2002). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 205. ISBN 9780521791052. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  10. ^ Sebba 1997, p. 161
  11. ^ See: List of countries and dependencies by population
  12. ^ a b Eurobarometer 2012 - Annex
  13. ^ a b "Afrikaans". Ethnologue.
  14. ^ a b "Dutch". Ethnologue.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "Nederlandse taal in de Grondwet" [Dutch language in the Constitution]. denederlandsegrondwet.nl (in Dutch). Montesquieu Instituut. 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  16. ^ rijksoverheid.nl nl#:~:text=Nederlands%20is%20de%20offici%C3%ABle%20taal,voor%20mensen%20die%20gebarentaal%20gebruiken. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/erkende-talen/erkende-talen-in nl#:~:text=Nederlands%20is%20de%20offici%C3%ABle%20taal,voor%20mensen%20die%20gebarentaal%20gebruiken. Retrieved 19 September 2023. ((cite web)): Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ Révision portant sur le traité de 1958(2008)
Categories