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Languages of Australia and the Pacifics

Official and Spoken Languages of Australia and the Pacifics.

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

Melanesian Pidgin, Hawaiian, Polynesian languages, Tahitian, Maori, are all languages spoken throughout island nations in the South Pacific Ocean. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages of Australia are endangered, Australia is the continent where languages are disappearing the fastest.

There are two major language groups in the Pacific islands, Papuan with about 750 languages, spoken on some of the East Indonesian islands, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. Papuan languages are considered to be quite ancient between 20- and 50,000 years.

Austronesian with about 1000 languages, spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, are considered much younger, with their origins in Taiwan and the south coast of mainland China, about 6,000 years ago. Austronesian languages are spoken by the indigenous population of Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore - and Madagascar, Malagasy is an Austronesian language and the national language of the island.

Countries of the Pacifics

Country

Official and national Languages

Other spoken Languages

American Samoa

English

Samoan (closely related to Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages), note: most people are bilingual

Australia

(no official language) Australian English (80% of the population)

Mandarin, Italian,

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, many of those languages are considered to be ‘endangered’.

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; note: 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home.

Palau

English 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 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; note: 120 indigenous languages

Tonga