List of countries and territories where Russian is an official language

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This is a list of countries and regions where Russian is an official language.

Countries

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Official language

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Name Other official language(s) (at national level) Native speakers (%) Total speakers (%)
  Belarus Belarusian 70.2%
  Kazakhstan Kazakh 21.2 84.8[a]
  Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz 8.9% 49.6%
  Russia 85.7
  Tajikistan Tajik 0.5% 25.9%

Recognised language

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Many countries recognise Russian as a minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Country Official language(s) Native speakers (%) Total speakers (%)
  Armenia Armenian 0.8% 52.7%
  Moldova Romanian 9.7%
  Poland Polish 0.1% 18%
  Romania Romanian 0.11%
  Slovakia Slovak
  Ukraine Ukrainian 29.6% 68%
  Uzbekistan Uzbek 2.1%

Regions and unrecognised countries

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The partially-recognised republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria all list Russian as a co-official language in their constitutions. The regions of Crimea (Ukraine), Gagauzia (Moldova), Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova) and eight communes of Romania also recognise Russian as a co-official language.

References

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  1. According to the 2009 census, 94% of Kazakhs could understand verbal Russian and 74% understood verbal Kazakh. 84.8% of Kazakhs said that they were fluent in Russian, 62% were fluent in Kazakh and 7.7% were fluent in English.