Typography and Unicode – European countries and languages

This page lists all main European languages. For the purposes of this website, main European languages are defined as all offical languages of the European countries. Official languages typically have a nation-wide legal status. In addition to the official languages, other regional and minority languages exist.

Offical languages of Europe

Latin alphabet (36 languages)
az	Azerbaijani	Aserbaidschanisch	Azərbaycanca	–	🇦🇿	AZ
bs	Bosnian	Bosnisch	Bosanski	–	🇧🇦	BA
ca	Catalan	Katalanisch	Català	–	🇦🇩	AD
cnr	Montenegrin	Montenegrinisch	Crnogorski/Црногорски	–	🇲🇪	ME
cs	Czech	Tschechisch	Čeština	🇪🇺	🇨🇿	CZ
da	Danish	Dänisch	Dansk	🇪🇺	🇩🇰	DK
de	German	Deutsch	Deutsch	🇪🇺	🇦🇹 🇧🇪 🇨🇭 🇩🇪 🇱🇮 🇱🇺	AT, BE, CH, DE, LI, LU
en	English	Englisch	English	🇪🇺	🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇲🇹	GB, IE, MT
es	Spanish	Spanisch	Español	🇪🇺	🇪🇸	ES
et	Estonian	Estnisch	Eesti	🇪🇺	🇪🇪	EE
fi	Finnish	Finnisch	Suomi	🇪🇺	🇫🇮	FI
fr	French	Französisch	Français	🇪🇺	🇧🇪 🇨🇭 🇲🇨 🇫🇷 🇱🇺	BE, CH, MC, FR, LU
ga	Irish	Irisch	Gaeilge	🇪🇺	🇮🇪	IE
hr	Croatian	Kroatisch	Hrvatski	🇪🇺	🇧🇦 🇭🇷	BA, HR
hu	Hungarian	Ungarisch	Magyar	🇪🇺	🇭🇺	HU
is	Icelandic	Isländisch	Íslenska	–	🇮🇸	IS
it	Italian	Italienisch	Italiano	🇪🇺	🇨🇭 🇮🇹 🇸🇲 🇻🇦	CH, IT, SM, VA
kk	Kazakh	Kasachisch	Qazaqşa/Қазақша	–	🇰🇿	KZ
la	Latin	Latein	Latina	–	🇻🇦	VA
lb	Luxembourgish	Luxemburgisch	Lëtzebuergesch	–	🇱🇺	LU
lt	Lithuanian	Litauisch	Lietuvių	🇪🇺	🇱🇹	LZ
lv	Latvian	Lettisch	Latviešu	🇪🇺	🇱🇻	LV
mt	Maltese	Maltesisch	Malti	🇪🇺	🇲🇹	MZ
nl	Dutch	Niederländisch	Nederlands	🇪🇺	🇧🇪 🇳🇱	BE, NL
no	Norwegian	Norwegisch	Norsk	–	🇳🇴	NO
pl	Polish	Polnisch	Polski	🇪🇺	🇵🇱	PL
pt	Portuguese	Portugiesisch	Português	🇪🇺	🇵🇹	PT
rm	Romansh	Rätoromanisch	Rumantsch	–	🇨🇭	CH
ro	Romanian/Moldovan	Rumänisch/Moldauisch	Română	🇪🇺	🇲🇩 🇷🇴	MD, RO
se	Northern Sámi	Nordsamisch	Davvisámegiella	–	🇳🇴	NO
sk	Slovak	Slowakisch	Slovenčina	🇪🇺	🇸🇰	SK
sl	Slovene	Slowenisch	Slovenščina	🇪🇺	🇸🇮	SI
sq	Albanian	Albanisch	Shqip	–	🇦🇱 🇲🇰	AL, MK
sr	Serbian	Serbisch	Srpski/Српски	–	🇧🇦 🇷🇸	BA, RS
sv	Swedish	Schwedisch	Svenska	🇪🇺	🇫🇮 🇸🇪	FI, SE
tr	Turkish	Türkisch	Türkçe	–	🇨🇾 🇹🇷	CY, TR
Cyrillic alphabet (5 languages)
be	Belarusian	Weißrussisch	Беларуская	–	🇧🇾	BY
bg	Bulgarian	Bulgarisch	Български	🇪🇺	🇧🇬	BG
mk	Macedonian	Mazedonisch	Македонски	–	🇲🇰	MK
ru	Russian	Russisch	Русский	–	🇧🇾 🇰🇿 🇷🇺	BY, KZ, RU
uk	Ukrainian	Ukrainisch	Українська	–	🇺🇦	UA
Greek alphabet (1 language)
el	Greek	Griechisch	Ελληνικά	🇪🇺	🇨🇾 🇬🇷	CY, GR
Armenian alphabet (1 language)
hy	Armenian	Armenisch	Հայերեն	–	🇦🇲	AM
Georgian alphabet (1 language)
ka	Georgian	Georgisch	ქართული	–	🇬🇪	GE

The table lists 44 languages, 24 of which are official European Union languages.

Three of the languages (Montenegrin, Kazakh, Serbian) in the table above are routinely written in both Latin and Cyrillic script, with Kazakhstan planning to fully transition to the Latin alphabet by 2025. For the purposes of this website, they are listed under the Latin script.

The codes used in the table are the official ISO country (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) and language codes (ISO 639-1). Montenegrin does not have an offical ISO two-letter language code, which is why the three letter code is shown here (ISO 639-2). Like Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, it belongs to the Serbo-Croatian language. For an explanation of the country codes, please see country table below.

List of European alphabets

Latn	Latin	Lateinisch	36 languages, including Montenegrin, Kazakh and Serbian which can also be written in the Cyrillic script
Cyrl	Cyrillic	Kyrillisch	7 languages, including Montenegrin, Kazakh and Serbian which can also be written in the Latin script
Grek	Greek	Griechisch	1 language
Armn	Armenian	Armenisch	1 language
Geor	Georgian	Georgisch	1 language

List of all European countries

Country code	Flag	EU member	Country	Land	Language code(-s)	Official language(-s)	Amtssprache(-n)
AD	🇦🇩	–	Andorra	Andorra	ca	Catalan	Katalanisch
AL	🇦🇱	–	Albania	Albanien	sq	Albanian	Albanisch
AM	🇦🇲	–	Armenia	Armenien	hy	Armenian	Armenisch
AT	🇦🇹	🇪🇺	Austria	Österreich	de	German	Deutsch
AZ	🇦🇿	–	Azerbaijan	Aserbaidschan	az	Azerbaijani	Aserbaidschanisch
BA	🇧🇦	–	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnien und Herzegowina	bs, sr, hr	Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian	Bosnisch, Serbisch, Kroatisch
BE	🇧🇪	🇪🇺	Belgium	Belgien	nl, fr, de	Dutch, French, German	Niederländisch, Französisch, Deutsch
BG	🇧🇬	🇪🇺	Bulgaria	Bulgarien	bg	Bulgarian	Bulgarisch
BY	🇧🇾	–	Belarus	Weißrussland	be, ru	Belarusian, Russian	Weißrussisch, Russisch
CH	🇨🇭	–	Switzerland	Schweiz	de, fr, it, rm	German, French, Italian, Romansh	Deutsch, Französisch, Italienisch, Rätoromanisch
CY	🇨🇾	🇪🇺	Cyprus	Zypern	el, tr	Greek, Turkish	Griechisch, Türkisch
CZ	🇨🇿	🇪🇺	Czechia	Tschechien	cs	Czech	Tschechisch
DE	🇩🇪	🇪🇺	Germany	Deutschland	de	German	Deutsch
DK	🇩🇰	🇪🇺	Denmark	Dänemark	da	Danish	Dänisch
EE	🇪🇪	🇪🇺	Estonia	Estland	et	Estonian	Estnisch
ES	🇪🇸	🇪🇺	Spain	Spanien	es	Spanish	Spanisch
FI	🇫🇮	🇪🇺	Finland	Finnland	fi, sv	Finnish, Swedish	Finnisch, Schwedisch
FR	🇫🇷	🇪🇺	France	Frankreich	fr	French	Französisch
GB	🇬🇧	–	United Kingdom	Großbritannien	en	English	Englisch
GE	🇬🇪	–	Georgia	Georgien	ka	Georgian	Georgisch
GR	🇬🇷	🇪🇺	Greece	Griechenland	el	Greek	Griechisch
HR	🇭🇷	🇪🇺	Croatia	Kroatien	hr	Croatian	Kroatisch
HU	🇭🇺	🇪🇺	Hungary	Ungarn	hu	Hungarian	Ungarisch
IE	🇮🇪	🇪🇺	Ireland	Irland	ga, en	Irish, English	Irisch, Englisch
IS	🇮🇸	–	Iceland	Island	is	Icelandic	Isländisch
IT	🇮🇹	🇪🇺	Italy	Italien	it	Italian	Italienisch
KZ	🇰🇿	–	Kazakhstan	Kasachstan	kk, ru	Kazakh, Russian	Kasachisch, Russisch
LI	🇱🇮	–	Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	de	German	Deutsch
LT	🇱🇹	🇪🇺	Lithuania	Litauen	lt	Lithuanian	Litauisch
LU	🇱🇺	🇪🇺	Luxembourg	Luxemburg	lb, fr, de	Luxembourgish, French, German	Luxemburgisch, Französisch, Deutsch
LV	🇱🇻	🇪🇺	Latvia	Lettland	lv	Latvian	Lettisch
MC	🇲🇨	–	Monaco	Monaco	fr	French	Französisch
MD	🇲🇩	–	Moldova	Moldawien	ro	Romanian/Moldovan	Rumänisch/Moldauisch
ME	🇲🇪	–	Montenegro	Montenegro	cnr	Montenegrin	Montenegrinisch
MK	🇲🇰	–	North Macedonia	Nordmazedonien	mk, sq	Macedonian, Albanian	Mazedonisch, Albanisch
MT	🇲🇹	🇪🇺	Malta	Malta	mt, en	Maltese, English	Maltesisch, Englisch
NL	🇳🇱	🇪🇺	Netherlands	Niederlande	nl	Dutch	Niederländisch
NO	🇳🇴	–	Norway	Norwegen	no, se	Norwegian, Northern Sámi	Norwegisch, Nordsamisch
PL	🇵🇱	🇪🇺	Poland	Polen	pl	Polish	Polnisch
PT	🇵🇹	🇪🇺	Portugal	Portugal	pt	Portuguese	Portugiesisch
RO	🇷🇴	🇪🇺	Romania	Rumänien	ro	Romanian	Rumänisch
RS	🇷🇸	–	Serbia	Serbien	sr	Serbian	Serbisch
RU	🇷🇺	–	Russia	Russland	ru	Russian	Russisch
SE	🇸🇪	🇪🇺	Sweden	Schweden	sv	Swedish	Schwedisch
SI	🇸🇮	🇪🇺	Slovenia	Slowenien	sl	Slovene	Slowenisch
SK	🇸🇰	🇪🇺	Slovakia	Slowakei	sk	Slovak	Slowakisch
SM	🇸🇲	–	San Marino	San Marino	it	Italian	Italienisch
TR	🇹🇷	–	Turkey	Türkei	tr	Turkish	Türkisch
UA	🇺🇦	–	Ukraine	Ukraine	uk	Ukrainian	Ukrainisch
VA	🇻🇦	–	Vatican City	Vatikan	it, la	Italian, Latin	Italienisch, Latein

The table lists 50 countries, 27 of which are members of the European Union.

Comments on countries listed in the table above

The above table is pretty comprehensive; it also includes countries that have only part of their landmass in Europe or are even geographically outside of Europe, but are considered culturally associated.
Geographically, Europe is considered the westernmost part of the Eurasian continent, separated from Asia by the ridges of the Ural mountains, the Ural river, the Caspian Sea, the ridges of the Caucasus mountains, the Black Sea, the Bosporus and the Aegean See.

Countries with their main landmass stretching two continents (Europe and Asia)

Russia: Only the area west of the Ural mountains (about 23 % the total area) is part of Europe geographically, the rest is in Asia.
Turkey: Only the small area west of the Bosporus (about 3 % the total area) is part of Europe geographically, the rest is in Asia.
Kazakhstan: Only the small area west of the Ural river (about 5 % the total area) is part of Europe geographically, the rest is in Asia.
Georgia: Only the very small part of the country north of the ridge of the Caucasus mountains is part of Europe geographically, the rest is in Asia.
Azerbaijan: Only the small part of the country north of the ridge of the Caucasus mountains is part of Europe geographically, the rest is in Asia.

Countries that are geographically close to Europe and culturally associated:

Cyprus: Geographically in Asia, however culturally associated with Europe.
Armenia: Geographically in Asia, however sometimes culturally associated with Europe.

Not formally recognised countries, break-away and disputed areas

In addition to the fully recognised countries in the table above, some regions in Europe have declared independence and statehood, have broken away, are occupied or otherwise not under control of the countries they formally belong to.

Country code	Flag	EU member	Country	Land	Language code(-s)	Official language(-s)	Amtssprache(-n)
–	–	–	Abkhazia	Abchasien	ab, ru	Abkhaz, Russian	Abchasisch, Russisch
–	–	–	Artsakh	Arzach	hy	Armenian	Armenisch
–	–	–	Crimea	Krim	ru	Russian	Russisch
–	–	–	Donetsk	Donezk	ru	Russian	Russisch
XK	🇽🇰	–	Kosovo	Kosovo	sq, sr	Albanian, Serbian	Albanisch, Serbisch
–	–	–	Luhansk	Lugansk	ru	Russian	Russisch
–	–	–	Northern Cyprus	Nordzypern	tr	Turkish	Türkisch
–	–	–	South Ossetia	Südossetien	os, ru, ka	Ossetian, Russian, Georgian	Ossetisch, Russisch, Georgisch
–	–	–	Transnistria	Transnistrien	ru, ro, uk	Russian, Romanian/Moldovan, Ukrainian	Russisch, Rumänisch/Moldauisch, Ukrainisch
–	–	–	UN buffer zone in Cyprus	UN-Pufferzone auf Zypern

The codes used in the table are the official ISO country (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) and language codes (ISO 639-1).

Of the ten disputed regions above, only South Ossetia (Ossetian, os, written in Cyrillic script) and Abkhazia (Abkhaz, ab, also written in Cyrillic script) would add new official languages to the current 44 official languages of Europe.

Side note on the not fully recognised countries:

Abkhazia is a break-away region of Georgia. South of the ridge of the Caucasus mountains, so geographically part of Asia.
Artsakh is a break-away region of Azerbaijan, culturally mostly associated with Armenia. Formerly called the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. South of the Caucasus mountains, so geographically part of Asia.
Crimea is a Russian-occupied region of Ukraine, culturally mostly associated with Russia.
Donetsk is a break-away region of Ukraine, culturally mostly associated with Russia.
Kosovo is a break-away region of Serbia, culturally mostly associated with Albania.
Luhansk is a break-away region of Ukraine, culturally mostly associated with Russia.
Northern Cyprus is a Turkish-occupied region of Cyprus, culturally mostly associated with Turkey. Geographically part of Asia.
South Ossetia is a break-away region of Georgia. South of the ridge of the Caucasus mountains, so geographically part of Asia.
Transnistria is a break-away-region of Moldova, with a heterogenous culture mostly associated with Russia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The UN buffer zone is a demilitarised zone in Cyprus along the border to Northern Cyprus. Geographically part of Asia.

Notes on ISO codes for countries, languages and scripts

Countries

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) keeps a list of country codes. The standard, called ISO 3166, contains several parts, of which ISO 3166-1 is the main part, providing the actual country codes. The other two parts, (ISO 3166-1 and ISO 3166-3) deal with codes for country subdivisions, and formerly used names of countries.

ISO 3166-1 defines three codes for each country, a two-letter code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2), a three letter code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3) and a numeric code (ISO 3166-1 numeric). The most widely used set of codes are the two-letter codes, as shown in the tables on this web page.

With the worldwide spread of the Internet, increased standardisation of data processing and rise of globalisation, the ISO two-letter country codes have become more and more widely used. They are the basis for many other standards, for example country code top-level Internet domains or Unicode country flag emojis.
Unfortunately, some organisations have yet not fully adapted to this worldwide and simple standard, adding to complexity and misunderstandings by using slightly or entirely different codes, be it for historical reasons, inflexibility or simply ignorance and arrogance. Examples are country codes within sports organisations, such as the International Olympic Committee, International Federation of Association Football, Union of European Football Association, or even the United Nations with their quaint vehicle codes. Hopefully, the future will see even further standardisation here to continue making our lives easier.

Languages

Similar to the list of country codes, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) maintains codes for languages. The standard, called ISO 639, also contains several parts. Individual languages are listed in ISO 639-1, ISO 639-2 and ISO 693-3, whereas ISO 639-5 lists language families and groups. ISO 639-1, also called alpha-2 code, lists the most widely used two-letter languages codes as shown in the tables on this web page. However, two-letter codes using the 26 letter of the basic Latin alphabet are restricted to only 676 entries, and that’s why three-letter codes (ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3) are also necessary.

European languages and countries