November 2013: United States

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Technically, the U.S. does not have an official language. However, English has acquired official status in 28 of the 50 states. Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii.
Some Other Languages Spoken: The U.S. population includes over 200 immigrant languages, including Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, French, Khmer, Laotian, Mandarin, Nepali, Polish, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya.
Ethnic Groups: white 79.96%, black 12.85%, Asian 4.43%, Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%, two or more races 1.61%
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October 2013: Brazil

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Portuguese
Some Other Languages Spoken: Apalaí, Arara, Bororo, Canela, Carajá, Caribe, Guarani, Kaingang, Nadëb, Nheengatu, Pirahã, Terena, Tucano, Tupiniquim
Ethnic Groups: white 53.7%, mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5%, black 6.2%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 0.9%, unspecified 0.7%
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Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Italian
Some Other Languages Spoken: Arpitan Catalán, Corsican, Emilian, Ligurian, Lombard, Piemontese, Romani, Sardinian, Sicilian.
Ethnic Groups: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Continue reading ““September 2013: Italy”“

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Japanese
Some Other Languages Spoken: Ainu, Amami-Oshima, Kikai, Kunigami, Miyako, Okinawan, Yaeyama, and Yonaguni.
Ethnic Groups: Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%
Continue reading ““August 2013: Japan”“

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Arabic
Some Other Languages Spoken: Ghomara, Berber languages (Tamazight, Senhaja, Tachelhit, Tarifit), French, Spanish
Ethnic Groups: Arab-Berber 99%, other 1%
Continue reading ““July 2013: Morocco”“

June 2013: Vietnam

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Vietnamese
Some Other Languages Spoken: Akha, Cham, Gelao, Halang, Hmong, Khmer, Ma, Muong, Sedang, Takua, Zhuang.
Ethnic Groups: Kinh (Viet) 85.7%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.8%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.5%, Mong 1.2%, Nung 1.1%, others 5.3%
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Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Arabic (Standard)
Some Other Languages Spoken: Bedawiyet, Domari, Kenzi, Nobiin, and Siwi
Ethnic Groups: Egyptian 99.6%, other 0.4%
Continue reading ““May 2013: Egypt”“

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): French, Plateau Malagasy
Some Other Languages Spoken: Antankarana, Masikoro, Tanosy, Tandroy-Mahafaly, Mwali, and Ndzwani
Ethnic Groups: Malayo-Indonesian (Merina and related Betsileo), Cotiers (mixed African, Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry – Betsimisaraka, Tsimihety, Antaisaka, Sakalava), French, Indian, Creole, Comoran
Continue reading ““April 2013: Madagascar”“

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): Finnish and Swedish
Some Other Languages Spoken: Estonian, Livvi, Romani, Saami
Ethnic Groups: Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.6%, Russian 0.5%, Estonian 0.3%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.1%, Sami 0.1%
Continue reading ““March 2013: Finland”“

Quick Facts

Official Language(s): English
Some Other Languages Spoken: Jamaican Creole English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese,
Ethnic Groups: Black 91.2%, Mixed 6.2%, Other or Unknown 2.6%
Continue reading ““February 2013: Jamaica”“