Languages of New Zealand
| Languages of New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Official languages | English, Māori, New Zealand Sign Language |
| Main languages | English |
| Common keyboard layouts |
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There are several languages of New Zealand. English (New Zealand English) is the dominant language spoken by most New Zealanders. The country's de jure official languages are Māori and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). Other languages are also used by ethnic communities.
English is a de facto official language by virtue of its widespread use.
The Māori language has had official language status, with the right to use it in legal settings such as in court, since the Maori Language Act 1987. There are around 70,000 native speakers of Māori out of a population of over 500,000 Māori people, with 161,000 of the country's 4 million residents claiming conversational ability in Māori.
New Zealand adopted sign language (New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL) as an official language on 10 April 2006. It is now legal for use and access in legal proceedings including in court and access to government services.
The pre-European inhabitants of the main islands of New Zealand all spoke Māori. A number of outlying islands and territories of New Zealand have their own native languages:
New Zealand has more speakers of several Polynesian languages resident in New Zealand than are resident in the country that language is native to (for example Niuean). It also has immigrants from other European and Asian countries who have brought their languages with them. According to Ethnologue, the largest groups are Samoan (50,000), "Rarotongan" (Cook Islands Māori, 25,000), Hindi and other Indian languages (26,200), Yue Chinese (20,000) and Arabic (4000).
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