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Official UN Languages

There are six official languages used by the United Nations. Can you name them all?
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KoljiVriVoda
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Last updated: March 5, 2026
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First submittedDecember 14, 2015
Times taken142,032
Average score83.3%
Rating4.94
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Language
Arabic
Chinese
English
French
Russian
Spanish
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78 Comments
cosmokim
+16
Level 70
Dec 14, 2015
Mandarin for Chinese?
Quizmaster
+26
Level ∞
Jan 12, 2016
Mandarin will work now.
sacheth9
+5
Level 65
Mar 14, 2020
Great, thanks!
Jacktheguy
+10
Level 93
Apr 24, 2016
Got 'em all. Almost forgot Russian, but I got 'em.
HinesBrothers
+4
Level 78
Nov 21, 2018
Same
JALENRAMSEY05
+1
Level 24
Dec 20, 2021
Finished with 1:18 left
zachazach
+1
Level 40
Dec 13, 2022
How? I did it with 22 seconds left.
zachazach
+1
Level 40
Dec 13, 2022
almost missed arabic
DanCanDoIt1217
+1
Level 37
Jan 29, 2022
Same
rayo171
+1
Level 22
May 8, 2024
finished in 26 seconds 100%
WanderingWolf
+6
Level 44
Apr 25, 2016
Not german?
halpie
+40
Level 80
Apr 25, 2016
Nein.
CardinalSin
+29
Level 82
Nov 21, 2018
If they wanted to add another European language, it would have been Portuguese, surely?
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Jan 15, 2019
why? in europe a very small portion speak portuguese (unless you were joking..)
Stoggler
+7
Level 55
Sep 9, 2025
The UN is more than just Europe! Have you never heard of Brazil, Angola and Mozambique?
JackintheBox
+9
Level 82
Jul 7, 2019
No - Bulgarian.
Eigengrau
+2
Level 63
Jul 7, 2019
What about Italian?
supermoose7115
+2
Level 48
Mar 18, 2025
Italian is the native language of a really small portion of the global population, and many of them also speak English or Spanish anyway
TomatosRaafatos
+47
Level 76
Jul 7, 2019
@Sif ... I think it's because of the 200 million people who speak portuguese as a first language in Brazil.
GollossalKitty
+1
Level 45
Feb 20, 2025
yeah but the amount of countries speaking things more similar to portuguese than Spanish is negligable
ddddan
+25
Level 85
Jul 7, 2019
+ Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe, Timor Leste -- did I miss any?
kalbahamut
+51
Level 79
Jul 7, 2019
Hatem, are you implying that there exists a world outside the borders of Europe?
BotswanaEmperor
+7
Level 73
May 8, 2020
@ddddan Guinea-Bissau also speaks Portuguese
duckwantbread
+5
Level 66
Dec 20, 2021
I think Sif might have mixed the UN up with the EU...
chadkatter
+29
Level 45
Apr 28, 2016
That's one of the consequences for losing in World War II. German, Japanese, and Italian are not official U.N. languages.
fitheach
+11
Level 58
Nov 22, 2018
Numbers of speakers and/or numbers of countries in which languages are spoken are probably more important. Japanese, German and Italian are not as widely spoken as the official languages.
GeoMan
+5
Level 56
Nov 22, 2018
But German is an official language in 9 countries.
camus
+16
Level 80
Jul 7, 2019
Eight, according to Wikipedia. Two of those countries are tiny (Luxembourg and Liechtenstein) and two others are rather small as well (Austria and Switzerland, which has large parts that rather speak French or Italian). In three of the countries, it is only a regional language (France, Italy, Belgium - the German speaking community in Belgium is tiny).
brandybuck96
+9
Level 82
Dec 20, 2021
On the flip side, German is extremely widely learnt, especially in other European countries, and is often used as a lingua franca
GollossalKitty
+1
Level 45
Feb 20, 2025
in European countries is very important
Neptune777
+3
Level 71
Jul 31, 2016
Surprised not to see Hindi.
shazs317
+13
Level 59
Jul 7, 2019
Why though. Hindi is only spoken by one UN member state (India, where most people in power speak English). Furthermore, India isn't a permanent member of the UN security council which was the justification for Mandarin and Russian.
Penghuan
+8
Level 60
Dec 20, 2021
Hindi is also an official language in Fiji
bananagay
+5
Level 46
Jan 13, 2022
That is random
Dollyfroggy
+3
Level 63
Sep 1, 2023
Hindustani is in 3, though: Pakistan - Urdu, Fiji - Fiji Hindi
Jiaozira
+7
Level 72
Dec 15, 2023
Political distinctions make it hard to add Hindustani. Hindustani has no overarching, formalised standard to draw from and choosing an official script would be contentious.
DonTheLamplighter
+3
Level 87
May 31, 2017
Dang. Thought for sure that semaphore would've been one.
GeoDude
+5
Level 46
Apr 22, 2019
Please accept American for English & Spanish
bananacake
+16
Level 40
Jul 7, 2019
American?
JackintheBox
+30
Level 82
Jul 7, 2019
Of course you're joking
Source
+14
Level 61
Dec 20, 2021
How aboot Canadian for English and French?
hugopernia
+10
Level 56
Dec 20, 2021
How about Peruvian for Gilbertese?
thread
+9
Level 67
Dec 20, 2021
And Sanskrit for Zulu?
MG17
+5
Level 43
Dec 27, 2021
Maybe Xhosa for Maori
Philip09
+3
Level 65
May 14, 2023
Maybe Italian for Amharic
katieeeeeeeeeeee
+6
Level 64
Oct 22, 2023
possibly brazilian for spanish
Nickelz
+5
Level 69
Dec 7, 2023
What about Cypriot for Quechua?
alejetpunk
+2
Level 36
Sep 9, 2025
Or maybe Burundian for Marshallese or Neapolitan
5181161208113456
+1
Level 41
Jul 21, 2025
The UN uses british english as the standard tho
blizzrd33
+3
Level 81
Sep 8, 2025
Most American comment ever
adbitmatmbct
+1
Level 43
Jan 16, 2026
Why? It's british english that is the official english
CaptainHumanLogic
+1
Level 39
Jul 7, 2019
Good quiz! Pretty easy though, just think of P5.
ruimateus
+2
Level 77
Jul 7, 2019
Wasn't Portuguese added to the list recently?
Philip09
+1
Level 65
May 14, 2023
Nope!
Frankthetriviaman
+3
Level 37
Jul 7, 2019
Given that French is the official language of Diplomacy, that one is understandable. Russian, English and Chinese probably correlate to how the five main members of the UN are USA, UK France, China and Russian, and Spanish and Arabic... probably more prevalent compared to other languages, if I had to guess.

A nice quiz, thanks for sharing.

Pinoccio
+1
Level 28
Jul 7, 2019
Should be in the easy quizzes category
imtreaty
+1
Level 44
Feb 29, 2020
I don't understand why is there Russian because literally, its only Russia's language
Shadywyvern
+9
Level 84
Mar 24, 2020
It's an official language in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as (correct me if I'm wrong) Belarus.
KoljiVriVoda
+13
Level 81
Mar 25, 2020
Because Russia is a superpower.
elcampeador
+5
Level 77
Dec 13, 2022
Because the USSR was one of WWII's victorious powers.
Philip09
+5
Level 65
May 14, 2023
Also, it is still spoken and known throughout Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. It is also the most spoken Slavic language with a Cyrillic alphabet, which is why it almost represents many other Eastern European languages
GollossalKitty
+2
Level 45
Feb 20, 2025
its pretty easy to understand from the perspective of the other slavic countries too
Jetpunkmaster000
+1
Level 49
Jul 10, 2021
Russia is not In The EU!
Philip09
+24
Level 65
Oct 7, 2021
what does that have to do with anything?
Fianchetto
+4
Level 78
Mar 15, 2024
congratulations
BautyArg
+1
Level 52
May 1, 2025
LOL, we're reffering UN, not EU!
kalbahamut
+5
Level 79
Dec 20, 2021
Is the sculpture in the thumbnail supposed to represent impotence?
SirPhilippines
+1
Level 73
Dec 20, 2021
It is to represent a knot on a gun.
MalyJacus
+3
Level 60
Dec 22, 2021
They should just go with Esperanto.
FireFoxFort
+1
Level 26
Dec 19, 2022
That was easy, 11 secs.
katieeeeeeeeeeee
+1
Level 64
Oct 22, 2023
omg how did i almost miss spanish
eurotec
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2025
Great quiz. Arabic actually got me, but I had thought of it.
GollossalKitty
+1
Level 45
Feb 20, 2025
Yall these are just from the biggest empires in the world and together they have conquered most of the world and made them speak these languages as at least their second language. So it does work.
Daksh00
+2
Level 64
May 24, 2025
Thanx for 5 easy PG points 😊😊
Relgasic
+1
Level 60
Sep 8, 2025
Please accept British English as a type-in, as that is the official version of English used by the UN.
alejetpunk
+1
Level 36
Sep 9, 2025
Got it in 12 seconds
oj11
+1
Level 20
Mar 24, 2026
9 seconds
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