Languages · Asia
What Language Do They Speak in Iraq?
The official language of Iraq is Arabic. In total about 17 living languages are spoken there, the most common being Arabic (68%), Mesopotamian Arabic (40%) and English (35%).
1
Official language
17
Living languages · #86
2
Regional official languages
1
Endangered languages
Official languages of Iraq
Most spoken languages in Iraq
Arabic Official
68%35%
Central Kurdish Regional official
12%10%
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
2%Azerbaijani Regional official
2%0.87%
Sarli
0.71%0.61%
Share of the population who speak the language (first or second language).
Languages commonly listed for Iraq
Languages of neighbouring countries
All languages of Iraq (17)
| Language | Speakers here | Family | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | 28,616,712 · 68% | Afro-Asiatic | Official |
| Mesopotamian Arabic | 17,000,000 · 40% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| English | 14,729,190 · 35% | Indo-European | Safe |
| North Mesopotamian Arabic | 10,000,000 · 24% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
| Central Kurdish | 5,050,008 · 12% | Indo-European | Regional official |
| Kurdish | 4,208,340 · 10% | Indo-European | — |
| Iranian Persian | 2,000,000 · 5% | Indo-European | Safe |
| Chaldean Neo-Aramaic | 800,000 · 2% | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Azerbaijani | 757,501 · 2% | Turkic | Regional official |
| Persian | 366,125 · 0.87% | Indo-European | — |
| Sarli | 300,000 · 0.71% | — | — |
| Northern Luri | 256,708 · 0.61% | Indo-European | Safe |
| Shabak | 250,000 · 0.59% | Indo-European | Vulnerable |
| Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | 230,000 · 0.55% | Afro-Asiatic | Vulnerable |
| Syriac | 210,417 · 0.5% | Afro-Asiatic | — |
| Bajelani | 59,000 · 0.14% | Indo-European | Threatened |
| Koy Sanjaq Surat | 800 · 0% | Afro-Asiatic | Safe |
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Frequently asked questions
What language do they speak in Iraq?
The official language of Iraq is Arabic. In total about 17 living languages are spoken there, the most common being Arabic (68%), Mesopotamian Arabic (40%) and English (35%).
What is the official language of Iraq?
Arabic. Regional official languages: Central Kurdish and Azerbaijani.
Is English spoken in Iraq?
About 35% of people in Iraq speak English (15 million).
How many languages are spoken in Iraq?
About 17 living languages — #86 in the world for linguistic diversity. 1 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).