Editing Illinois (section)

===Languages===
{{Main|Languages of Illinois}}

The [[official language]] of Illinois is [[English language|English]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapterID=2, |title=5 ILCS 460/ State Designations Act, Illinois Compiled Statutes |publisher=Illinois General Assembly  |access-date=October 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319005854/http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapterID=2, |archive-date=March 19, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> although between 1923 and 1969, state law gave official status to "the American language". Nearly 80% of people in Illinois speak English natively, and most of the rest speak it fluently as a second language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf |title=Language Use in the United States: American Community Survey Reports |last1=Ryan |first1=Camille |date=August 2013 |website=Census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=March 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205101044/http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf |archive-date=February 5, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A number of dialects of [[American English]] are spoken, ranging from [[Inland Northern American English]] and [[African-American English]] around Chicago, to [[Midland American English]] in Central Illinois, to [[Southern American English]] in the far south.

Over 24% of Illinoians speak a language other than English at home, of which [[Spanish language|Spanish]] is by far the most widespread, at more than 14% of the total population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grid View: Table B16007 - Census Reporter |url=https://censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B16007&geo_ids=04000US17,01000US&primary_geo_id=04000US17#valueType%7Cpercentage |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=censusreporter.org}}</ref> A sizeable number of [[Polish language|Polish]] speakers is present in the [[Chicago Metropolitan Area]]. [[Illinois Country French]] has mostly gone extinct in Illinois, although it is still celebrated in the [[French Colonial Historic District]].
{| class="wikitable"
!Language spoken at home
!% of Total (2023)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Language Spoken At Home by Ability to Speak English (2023) |url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=punjabi&g=040XX00US17 |website=US Census Bureau}}</ref>
!Population (2023)
|-
|English only
|75.7%
|9,004,820
|-
|Spanish
|14.1%
|1,672,496
|-
|[[Polish language|Polish]]
|1.4%
|161,590
|-
|[[Chinese language|Chinese]]
|0.9%
|109,270
|-
|[[Tagalog language|Tagalog]]
|0.7%
|87,330
|-
|[[Arabic]]
|0.6%
|74,919
|-
|[[Urdu]]
|0.5%
|62,667
|-
|[[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] or other Slavic languages
|0.5%
|61,713
|-
|[[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
|0.5%
|53,564
|-
|[[Russian language|Russian]]
|0.4%
|48,012
|-
|[[Hindi]]
|0.4%
|45,893
|-
|[[Korean language|Korean]]
|0.3%
|36,666
|-
|[[French language|French]]
|0.3%
|34,463
|-
|[[West Africa|West African]] Languages
|0.3%
|32,917
|-
|[[German language|German]]
|0.3%
|31,305
|-
|[[Serbo-Croatian]]
|0.2%
|26,399
|-
|[[Italian language|Italian]]
|0.2%
|26,018
|-
|[[Greek language|Greek]]
|0.2%
|23,751
|-
|[[Telugu language|Telugu]]
|0.2%
|23,163
|-
|Other [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] Languages
|0.2%
|20,193
|-
|[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]
|0.2%
|19,468
|-
|All other languages
|2.0%
|232,046
|-
!Total population aged 5+
!100%
!11,888,663
|}