If you’ve ever found yourself disoriented while visiting a country whose language you can neither speak nor understand, just imagine traveling to one with 16 official languages. That would be Zimbabwe, where all of the following have had official status since its constitution was codified in 2013: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa. Some are more widely spoken than others, of course, with English, Shona, and Ndebe being the most common; approximately 70% of Zimbabweans are Shona-speaking, for instance, while English is the main language used in the judicial and education systems. And while India has 18 languages that are considered official, each of them only has that status within a given region rather than across the entire country.

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Source: Guinness World Records | Date Updated: June 21, 2021