Languages · Asia
What Language Do They Speak in Bhutan?
The official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha. In total about 26 living languages are spoken there, the most common being Dzongkha (47%), Nepali (17%) and Tshangla (15%).
1
Official language
26
Living languages · #57
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Regional official languages
16
Endangered languages
Official languages of Bhutan
Most spoken languages in Bhutan
All languages of Bhutan (26)
| Language | Speakers here | Family | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dzongkha | 415,736 · 47% | Sino-Tibetan | Official |
| Nepali | 150,372 · 17% | Indo-European | — |
| Tshangla | 132,681 · 15% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| English | 97,300 · 11% | Indo-European | Safe |
| Khengkha | 40,000 · 5% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Lepcha | 34,497 · 4% | Sino-Tibetan | Moribund |
| Dzalakha | 22,000 · 2% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Chocangacakha | 20,000 · 2% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Bumthangkha | 20,000 · 2% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Groma | 13,000 · 1% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Kurtokha | 10,000 · 1% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Nyenkha | 10,000 · 1% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Dakpakha | 9,100 · 1% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Lakha | 8,000 · 0.9% | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Lhokpu | 2,500 · 0.28% | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Nupbikha | 2,200 · 0.25% | Bookkeeping | Threatened |
| Gongduk | 2,000 · 0.23% | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Layakha | 1,100 · 0.12% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Chalikha | 1,000 · 0.11% | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Lunanakha | 700 · 0.08% | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
| Brokkat | 300 · 0.03% | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Olekha | 3 · 0% | Sino-Tibetan | Nearly extinct |
| Kalaktang Monpa | — | Sino-Tibetan | Safe |
| Brokpake | — | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Thangmi | — | Sino-Tibetan | Vulnerable |
| Tseku | — | Sino-Tibetan | Threatened |
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Frequently asked questions
What language do they speak in Bhutan?
The official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha. In total about 26 living languages are spoken there, the most common being Dzongkha (47%), Nepali (17%) and Tshangla (15%).
What is the official language of Bhutan?
Dzongkha.
Is English spoken in Bhutan?
About 11% of people in Bhutan speak English (97,300).
How many languages are spoken in Bhutan?
About 26 living languages — #57 in the world for linguistic diversity. 16 of them are endangered.
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT).