Languages
Russian Speaking Countries 2025
Country | Russian Speaking | Number Of Speakers↓ | % Of Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Russia | Official (sole) | 118,274,000 | 82% |
 | Ukraine | Unofficial | 12,502,000 | 32.9% |
 | Belarus | Official (w Belarusian) | 6,478,000 | 70.2% |
 | Uzbekistan | Unofficial | 5,062,000 | 14.2% |
 | Kazakhstan | Official (w Kazakh) | 3,728,000 | 19% |
 | Germany | Unofficial | 3,017,000 | 3.6% |
 | Israel | Unofficial | 1,338,000 | 14% |
 | Turkmenistan | Unofficial | 772,000 | 12% |
 | Tajikistan | Official interethnic (Tajik is official national) | 697,000 | 7% |
 | United States | Unofficial | 667,000 | 0.2% |
 | Latvia | Unofficial | 635,000 | 33.8% |
 | Kyrgyzstan | Official (w Kyrgyz) | 628,000 | 9% |
 | Estonia | Unofficial | 372,000 | 27.6% |
 | Georgia | Unofficial | 327,000 | 8.8% |
 | Azerbaijan | Minority language | 243,000 | 2.4% |
 | Moldova | Minority language | 239,000 | 9.4% |
 | Lithuania | Unofficial | 181,000 | 6.4% |
 | Canada | Unofficial | 156,000 | 0.4% |
 | Armenia | Unofficial | 56,000 | 2% |
 | Finland | Unofficial | 50,000 | 0.9% |
 | Cyprus | Unofficial | 31,000 | 2.5% |
There are many Russian-speaking people all around the world, but there are just four countries where Russian is the official language. These countries are Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. There are two countries where Russian is used for official functions. In Tajikistan, it is used in lawmaking and it is also the language of inter-ethnic communication. In Uzbekistan, it is used in registry offices and notary institutions across the nation. In the country of Turkmenistan, Russian is widely spoken throughout the country as either a first or second language. It is typically spoken within the country’s major cities, and it is taught in schools.
Throughout non-sovereign countries and semi-autonomous regions, Russian is recognized as a de jure official language, which is spoken with other languages. In Russia, these regions include: Adygea, Altai Republic, Bashkiria, Buryatia, Chechnya, Chuvashia, Dagestan, Ingueshtia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmkia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Karelia, Khakassia, Komi Republic, Mari El, Mordovia, North Ossetia-Alania, Sakha Republic, Tatarstan, Tuva, and Udmurtia.
In Ukraine, Russian is recognized as a de jure official language in the following regions: Donetsk Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Kherson Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Sevastopol, and Zaporizhia Oblast. There are other regions that also speak Russian, including Gagauzia, Romania and Transnistria.
