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Official and Regional Languages of Oceania on a Map

Can you name these 43 national and regional languages shown on the map of Oceania?
Read the extensive caveats in the comments
Quiz by Jiaozira
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Last updated: February 25, 2024
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First submittedApril 11, 2023
Times taken5,317
Average score37.2%
Rating5.00
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Indo-European
 
 
 
 
 
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Malayo-Polynesian
 
 
 
 
Germanic
22 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
22 mil
English
 
 
 
 
Indo-Iranian
460 k speakers
 
L1
Language
460 k
Fiji Hindi
 
 
 
 
Romance
351 k speakers
 
L1
Language
221 k
Spanish
130 k
French
 
 
 
 
Fijian-Polynesian
1.2 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
510 k
Samoan
340 k
Fijian
187 k
Tongan
68 k
Tahitian
<50 k
Māori
21 k
Cook Islands Māori
13 k
Tuvaluan
8.7 k
Marquesan
5.9 k
Niuean
5.0 k
Austral
4.0 k
Tuamotuan
3.7 k
Tokelauan
2.0 k
Hawaiian
1.0 k
Rapa Nui
973
Rapa
600
Mangareva
 
 
 
 
 
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Creole
 
 
 
 
 
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Japonic
 
 
 
 
Micronesian
276 k speakers
 
L1
Language
120 k
Gilbertese
55 k
Marshallese
51 k
Chuukese
29 k
Pohnpeian
9.3 k
Nauruan
9.0 k
Kosraean
3.1 k
Carolinian
400
Sonsorolese
150
Tobian
 
 
 
 
Western Oceanic
100 k speakers
 
L2
Language
100 k
Hiri Motu
 
 
 
 
West New Guinea
70 k speakers
 
L1
Language
70 k
Biak
 
 
 
 
Chamorro
58 k speakers
 
L1
Language
58 k
Chamorro
 
 
 
 
Southern Oceanic
34 k speakers
 
L1
Language
13 k
Drehu
8.7 k
Nengone
7.3 k
Paicî
5.4 k
Ajië
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Papuan Languages
 
 
 
 
 
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Signed Languages
 
 
 
 
Palauan
17 k speakers
 
 
L1
Language
17 k
Palauan
 
 
 
 
Admiralty Islands
5.1 k speakers
 
 
L1
Language
5.1 k
Yapese
 
 
 
 
North New Guinea
100 speakers
 
 
L1
Language
100
Tobati
 
 
 
 
English-based Creole
140 k speakers
 
L1
Language
130 k
Tok Pisin
10 k
Bislama
 
 
 
 
English-Tahitian-based Creole
2.4 k speakers
 
L1
Language
2.4 k
Pitkern-Norfuk
 
 
 
 
Japonic
73 k speakers
 
L1
Language
73 k
Japanese
 
 
 
 
Papuan Languages
7.8 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
7.8 mil
Papuan Languages
 
 
 
 
Signed Languages
53 k speakers
 
L1
Speakers
30 k
PNG Sign Language
23 k
New Zealand
Sign Language
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20 Comments
+7
Level 71
Apr 11, 2023
Another continent has fallen!

Notes: Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands don't have any recognised languages below the national level (despite being amongst the most linguistically diverse nations on earth).

Japanese, Spanish and French all have more speakers in immigrant communities in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii than they have in the territories where they have official recognition. Japanese is also official in Angaur state, Palau, as the elders who wrote the constitution were literate in Japanese. Today, it is probable that no one on this island speaks Japanese, although it is a good excuse as to why Japanese is included, if you do not believe the Ogasawara islands are part of Oceania.

I struggled to find accurate numbers of L1 Maori speakers (in NZ). The language had a steep decline in the late 20th Century as it lost its ageing L1 population, and it is estimated that 30,000-150,000 people are fluent in the language today (not necessarily as their mother tongue).

+8
Level 71
Apr 11, 2023
I could not find accurate numbers for Hawaiian speakers, other than a slightly out-of-date figure for the native speakers. I centred Hawaiian over the island of Niihau (a traditional Hawaiian society and the only community in which Hawaiian is spoken as a native language). There are some Hawaiian speaking areas on the larger islands, but as you may be able to tell from the map, dividing tiny islands in a clean and easy-to-read manner is difficult! A lot of people don't realise how dire of a sitaution the Hawaiian language is in, despite its fame.

Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subset of the Austronesian family, but I chose to make Malayo-Polynesian the baseline and divide it into Micronesian, Polynesian, etc. in the answer column to avoid repetition.

+3
Level 41
Apr 14, 2023
This was really fantastic! Would you be heading into North or South America next? Or maybe a fully detailed Melanesian map?
+1
Level 71
Apr 14, 2023
Thanks for playing! I'm hoping to finish North America next. Now that Africa is finished, the other continents are quite simple, each having less than 50 answers. Although the Papuan languages are fascinating, unfortunately they are also some of the most obscure and difficult to find data on.
+2
Level 23
Apr 14, 2023
Great job! When you produce the map of south america, do you intend to include languages ​​recognized at the municipal level?

For example: Brazil - Nheengatu, Tenetehara, Talian, Pomeranian, etc.

+2
Level 71
Apr 15, 2023
Thank you! I am considering this, as to add some variety to the quiz, but on the other hand it would be a slight break from the rest of the series. In short, I will probably not make this decision until I finalise the list of languages.
+3
Level 61
Apr 18, 2023
Accept Hindi?
+4
Level 71
Apr 18, 2023
I will consider it, however I feel that calling it Hindi is not very accurate, and I haven't seen other Jetpunk quizzes allow this type-in.
+2
Level 70
Apr 18, 2023
I've been looking forward to this for such a long time! It's great! Nominated!
+1
Level 71
Apr 18, 2023
Thanks for playing! I'm glad you liked it :D
+1
Level 70
Apr 18, 2023
do you mean 46k for Fiji Hindi?
+3
Level 71
Apr 19, 2023
460 k in 1991. I was a little surprised by this figure and it may be somewhat inaccurate, but with this figure and all others don't forget that the diaspora community is included. Many Indo-Fijians left Fiji after the political unrest in the 2000s.
+1
Level 61
Apr 23, 2023
Nice. Fijian usually is accepted, so that threw me off. Shouldn't PNG Sign Language be on here?
+4
Level 71
Apr 24, 2023
Fijian is accepted for the Austronesian language, Fiji Hindi is a different language altogether. I chose to include the signed languages but I put them in grey boxes, as it isn't possible to display them on the map (at least not at the same time as the spoken languages without making some serious concessions to the visuals).
+3
Level 72
Sep 15, 2023
Maybe a few more type-ins for Fiji Hindi? I tried Fijian Hindi and Hindustani.
+2
Level 71
Feb 25, 2024
Types-ins have been made more lenient, thanks for the feedback!
+4
Level 29
Mar 4, 2024
These language quizzes are incredible! Would you have any interest in doing a global one once you have (or maybe I should say "if you ever") gone through each continent?
+4
Level 71
Mar 5, 2024
I'm really glad to hear that! A world version certainly isn't off the books, I just have one more continent to go :)
+1
Level 55
Aug 7, 2024
Great quiz! Was Hawaiian Pidgin not included because it's too similar to English? Or due to lack of recognition? Also, I think that Indonesian/Malay could be included.
+1
Level 23
Sep 11, 2024
When do you plan to take the South American languages ​​quiz?