The official languages of the Caribbean island-state of

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

are

Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, but most Arubans speak a minimum of four languages, including English and Spanish. Schools require students to learn

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and to a lesser extent French. According to the Government of Aruba the mother tongue and primary vernacular of almost all Arubans is

, an Afro-Portuguese Creole language spoken since the 16th century. The language, however, was not widespread in Aruba till the 18th and 19th centuries when most materials on the island and even Roman Catholic schoolbooks were written in Papiamento. COVID-19 sign (Aruba)

Dutch has been one of the official languages of the island for years as the island is a part of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

. However, Dutch is the sole language for most administrative and legal matters. Aruba has recognized English as an international language, and has required that children learn English as early as the 4th grade. Use of English dates to the early 19th century, when the British took Curaçao, Aruba and

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...

; when Dutch rule resumed in 1815, officials noted the already widespread use of the language. Since May 2003, Papiamento has also been an official language, alongside Dutch. Aruba's location off the coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

has also made Spanish extremely important. Students begin learning this as early as 5th grade. Spanish became an important language in the 18th century due to the close economic ties with Spanish colonies in what are now Venezuela and Colombia, and several

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n TV networks are received, and the fact that Aruba has Venezuelan and Colombian residents. Around 42% of the population today speaks Spanish. Papiamento is a Creole language that evolved from Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, some French, English, and a smattering of African languages. The language evolved in Curaçao during the 16th century when enslaved Africans and the Spanish enslavers developed common ground in which to communicate. Papiamento was not considered important on Aruba until 1995. It was officially included in the school curriculum in 1998 and 1999. Since then, the island has embraced this native language. A Papiamento dictionary and fairy tales written in Papiamento are now readily available on the island. Aruba is a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...

society. Most of Aruba's population is able to converse in at least three of the languages of Papiamento, Dutch, English, and Spanish.

Selected Aruban Papiamento phrases

References

External links

Ethnologue report for Aruba
{{South America in topic, Languages of