Today, Monaco is famous for being one of the largest tax havens in Europe (ironic given Monaco’s small size!) Yet, for such a small country, the languages of Monaco are perhaps more varied than any other nation on Earth!
Whilst some of the languages of Monaco are among the most spoken in the world, there are several languages spoken in the country which are not only obscure, but also unique to Monaco…
Official Language of Monaco
According to the Constitution of Monaco, there is only one official language in the country: French.
Owing to its status as Monaco’s sole official language, French is the official language used in business, day-to-day living, education, healthcare, government and so on, meaning that it is perhaps the most important language to speak if you’re going to Monaco.
On top of this, most of Monaco’s immigrants speak French as either a first or second language, as Monaco require this in order to gain a visa to live in the country.
It’s for this reason that, despite most of Monaco’s residents being foreigners, French is the one language that pretty much everyone uses with people they don’t know from outside of the country.
It’s only once you get to know each other that you use another language.
For instance, you may be talking to someone else who you are sure is from another English-speaking country, but you don’t know personally. It’s only after you’ve begun conversing in French (and finding out what country they’re from) that you can start speaking English.
Currently, the Monégasque government estimates that around 28.4% of Monaco’s population (an estimated 11,100 people) can speak French to a native level, not counting the foreigners who can speak it to a high or near-native level!
Regional Languages of Monaco
Despite French being the official language of Monaco, there are also a number of non-official languages spoken throughout the country too, most of whom are isolated to a certain area of the country…
Monégasque
Although French is currently the official language of Monaco, historically it has been the Monégasque dialect of Ligurian, which came to Monaco along with Monaco’s royal family (the House of Grimaldi).
You see, the Grimaldis were successful Genoese statesmen. However, in the 13th century, political strife in Genoa saw many powerful families, such as the Grimaldis, flee Genoa, with many fleeing to the French coastal area of present-day Monaco.
Due to being from Genoa, the Grimaldis didn’t speak the local language. Instead, they spoke the Ligurian (or Genoese) language, which soon became the country’s official language following the formation of Monaco as a sovereign state.
Over time, the Ligurian spoken in Monaco began to be different to the Ligurian spoken in Genoa, eventually forming the modern-day dialect of the language we now call Monégasque.
Since French became the official language of the country, Monégasque slowly began to die out. Fearing that the country would lose parts of its history if it did, the Monégasque government made it compulsory in education.
Despite initial doubts that this would work, this has seen the total number of Monégasque speakers rise in Monaco. To date, roughly 21.6% of the population (roughly 8,500 people) speak Monégasque to a high level.
Even members of the royal family – who’d long since forgotten the language – have begun to learn it again, with current prince, Albert II, giving a speech wholly in Monégasque during his coronation in 2005.
Italian
As mentioned previously, Monaco was a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Whilst the protectorate officially spoke Monégasque, most diplomatic relations between Sardinia and Monaco was done in the Sardinian language, which is extremely close to modern-day Italy.
Although Monaco is no longer a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia, nor the Kingdom (and later Republic) of Italy, both countries have a rather close friendship owing to their intertwined histories.
Thanks to this, many rich Italians have fled to Monaco to avoid paying Italian income taxes, resulting in Italian becoming not only a major historical language in the country but also one of the major immigrant languages of Monaco too!
Currently, roughly 19% of Monaco’s population (around 7,500 people) are Italian nationals. This fact makes Italian the most spoken language in the country besides French.
In fact, Italian is such an important language historically, that is the ancestral language spoken by the House of Grimaldi. Due to this fact several members of the family have learned the language to stay in tune with their ancestors.
And it’s not just minor members of the family either.
The current Prince, Albert II, speaks Italian, as does his sister, Princess Caroline, who even went as far to marry Italian businessman, Stefano Casiraghi, with the couple having three children together, all of whom speak both French and Italian.
Intemelio
Much like Monégasque, Intemelio is not its own language per se. Instead, Intemelio is similarly a dialect of Ligurian, centered around the Italian city of Ventimiglia, a city which many of the Grimaldi’s allies (and fellow exiles) came from.
Upon arriving in Monaco, the Grimaldis would continue to speak the Monégasque dialect of Ligurian, whilst their Ventimiglia allies continued to speak the Intemelio dialect.
Over time, the Grimaldi’s Ventimiglia allies had children, who later had children of their own, who had children of their own (and so on). This resulted in Intemelio becoming quite well spoken in Monaco.
To date, roughly 3.5% of Monaco’s population (an estimated 1,000 people) speaks Intemelio to a high standard. For the most part, these people are often older, native Monégasques.
Surprisingly, the language has seen as a quasi-revival in recent years, mostly among native Monégasques, who’ve begun to use the language as a way to insult the rich foreigners in the country (as many have learned both French and Monégasque).
Although they aren’t big by any means, there are a number of Intemelio language websites that are owned and operated by native Monégasques, that focus on the history of Monaco before it became a favorite tax haven for the world’s richest people.
Due in most part to the fact that the language has very few speakers in Monaco itself, the language has never received any kind of official recognition from the Monégasque government.
Occitan
Looking at the location of Monaco, compared to the rest of France, you’ll find that Monaco is encompassed by the historical area of Occitania, an area of modern-day France that spoke the Occitan language rather than French.
Indeed, prior to the rise of the House of Grimaldi, and thus the founding of modern Monaco as we know it, Monaco was a part of Occitania. As such, Occitan was the official language of the area, spoken by both the elites and peasants alike.
Following the rise of the House of Grimaldi, the aforementioned Monégasque became the language of the elites, whilst Occitan remained as the language of the peasants.
As the government’s official language, however, most peasants chose to learn Monégasque (and later French) as to better understand royal decrees.
Eventually, most native Monégasques began to stop teaching their children Occitan in favor of Monegasque (and later French)!
Perhaps not surprisingly, Occitan isn’t really used in Monaco, today, with those who do use it often being much older native Monégasques, whose parents, grandparents and great-grandparents chose to continue to teach the language.
To date, roughly 0.5% of Monaco’s population (roughly 200 people) speak Occitan. Despite pleas by Monaco’s Occitan speakers to save the language by making it an official language, the Monégasque government have not made it official to date.
Immigrant Languages of Monaco
Due to Monaco’s status as a tax haven, the country has become home to numerous high-net worth expatriates, who have all brought their own language to the country too.
Hebrew
As a tax haven, Monaco has long been an attractive locale for rich businessmen and aristocrats. For much of European history, the richest businessmen have often been Jewish bankers, who spoke Hebrew as a religious language.
Whilst more a historical thing, Monaco still has practicing Jews today, many of whom are well-to-do retirees from either France or the UK, who have chosen to retire to one of the most exclusive places on the Mediterranean coast!
Alternatively, these Jews are wealthy businessmen from Israel or North Africa, having chosen to live in Monaco due to the weather, the lack of income taxes and its proximity to major business hubs like London, Frankfurt and Paris.
Currently, around 2.86% of Monaco’s population (around 1,000 people) are Hebrew-speaking Jews, giving Monaco the largest percentage of Hebrew speakers outside of Israel, even beating the United States!
Indeed, whilst all of Monaco’s Jews are foreigners by birth, the Monégasque Jewish community is incredibly active. Since 1948, there have been several synagogues, Hebrew-language schools and kosher stores built in the country.
Due in part to continued influx of Jewish people to Monaco, as well as Monaco’s dark history in WWII, to do with the Jews, more and more emphasis is being placed on the German occupation of Monaco in Monégasque schools.
English
As a tax haven, English-speaking millionaires and billionaires have flocked to Monaco to avoid paying taxes to their own countries, as well as bask in the sunshine of the French Riviera.
For the most part, these English-speaking millionaires and billionaires are well-known celebrities or businessmen, including British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, F1 driver Paul di Resta and tennis player Milos Raonic.
As a general rule, these rich expats live in the country fulltime as to avoid the taxes of their home country. However, depending on the job of expat, some spend half the year abroad, whilst spending the warm, summer months in Monaco!
On top of this, in 1956, Rainier III of Monaco married American actress Grace Kelly. As such, their three children grew up speaking English with their mother, and French with their father.
In 2011, Rainier III’s son, Albert II, married Rhodesian-born Charlene Wittstock. Learning from her mother-in-law, Charlene has similarly raised her children to speak English with her and her husband, and French with everybody else.
To date, roughly 8.5% of the population of Monaco (around 3,300 people) are native English speakers, with English also being the main secondary language taught at schools.
German
For many of the same reasons as their Jewish and Anglophonic cousins, many wealthy Germans have flocked to Monaco, trading the lively, yet often cold German cities like Berlin and Frankfurt, for the much warmer Monaco!
Unlike their Jewish and Anglophonic cousins, who often retire to Monaco with their spouse, these wealthy German immigrants often bring the entire family to the country – children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren too!
As a result, whilst still a minority, there is a large group of Germans in Monaco’s education system, which has affected it greatly, with some places teaching German over English as a second language, as well as teaching Monaco-German history too.
For the most part, these German-speaking immigrants in Monaco are from Germany. However, there are also small groups of Austrians and German-speaking Swiss citizens, who have also retired to the country.
Currently, the Monégasque government estimates that roughly 2.7% of the population (around 1,100 people) are native German speakers.
Indeed, even members of the royal family speak German. In 1999, Albert II’s sister, Princess Caroline, married Prince Ernst-Augustus of Hannover, with their daughter speaking German with her father and French with her mother.
Dutch
For the most part, businessmen who migrate to Monaco are often trying to avoid paying their country’s income taxes (too high). Yet, for some businessmen who migrate to Monaco, they’re looking to avoid another type of tax – wealth tax.
Although a politically divisive topic, wealth taxes have been instituted in several countries. The most successful of these has been in the Netherlands, who’ve instituted the most successful wealth tax on the value of assets held by residents of the country.
More recently, there have also been an influx of Belgian immigrants to the country too, due to Belgium recently introducing a minor wealth tax on the value of assets held by Belgian citizens, which has harmed the richest Belgians the most.
Wanting to avoid paying these wealth taxes (alongside regular income taxes), many of these Belgian and Dutch expatriates have chosen to move to Monaco, therefore becoming tax residents of Monaco and not Belgium/the Netherlands.
As Monaco has no income taxes, they are no longer need to pay any taxes – either to their home country or Monaco.
Due to the fact that the Netherlands predominantly speaks Dutch, and the richest Belgians often being Dutch speakers from Flanders, Monaco has seen a sharp increase in the number of Dutch speakers in the country!
To date, roughly 2% (roughly 800 people) of Monaco’s population are native Dutch-speakers, with it being particularly common in and around the Monte Carlo ward (area) of the country, famous for the Monte Carlo Casino.
What do you think of the languages of Monaco? Do you speak any of them? Tell me in the comments!