AnEnglish-based creole language (often shortened toEnglish creole) is acreole language for whichEnglish was thelexifier, meaning that at the time of its formation thevocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the creole'slexicon.^[1] Most English creoles were formed in British colonies, following the great expansion of British naval military power and trade in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The main categories of English-based creoles are Atlantic (the Americas and Africa) and Pacific (Asia and Oceania).

Over 76.5 million people globally are estimated to speak an English-based creole. Sierra Leone, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, and Singapore have the largest concentrations of creole speakers.

It is disputed to what extent the various English-based creoles of the world share a common origin. Themonogenesis hypothesis^[2][3] posits that a single language, commonly calledproto–Pidgin English, spoken along the West African coast in the early sixteenth century, was ancestral to most or all of the Atlantic creoles (the English creoles of both West Africa and the Americas).

Name	Country	Number of speakers[4]	Notes
Atlantic [edit]
Western Caribbean [edit]
Bahamian Creole	Bahamas	328,000 (2018)
Turks and Caicos Creole English	Turks and Caicos	34,400 (2019)
Bay Islands English	Honduras	22,500 (2001)
Jamaican Patois	Jamaica	3,043,280 (2001)
Cayman Islands English	Cayman Islands	84,400 (2019)
Belizean Creole	Belize	170,000 (2014)
Miskito Coast Creole	Nicaragua	18,400 (2009)	Dialect:Rama Cay Creole
Limonese Creole	Costa Rica	55,100 (2013)	Dialect of Jamaican Patois
Bocas del Toro Creole	Panama	268,000 (2000)	Dialect of Jamaican Patois
San Andrés–Providencia Creole	Colombia	12,000 (1981)
Eastern Caribbean [edit]
Virgin Islands Creole	US Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands Sint Maarten Puerto Rico[10] Saint-Martin Sint Eustatius Saba	89,700 (2019)
Anguillan Creole	Anguilla	11,500 (2001)	Dialect ofAntiguan and Barbudan Creole
Barbudan Creole	Antigua and Barbuda	1,400 (2011)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
North Antiguan Creole	Antigua and Barbuda	48,000 (2011)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
South Antiguan Creole	Antigua and Barbuda	6,800 (2011)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Saint Kitts Creole	Saint Kitts and Nevis	51,000 (2015)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Montserrat Creole	Montserrat	5,130 (2020)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Kokoy Creole	Dominica	unknown, growing[11]	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Vincentian Creole	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	108,000 (2016)
Grenadian Creole	Grenada	107,000 (2020)
Tobagonian Creole	Trinidad and Tobago	300,000 (2011)
Trinidadian Creole	Trinidad and Tobago	1,000,000 (2011)
Bajan Creole	Barbados	257,000 (2018)
Guyanese Creole	Guyana	715,200 (2021)
Sranan Tongo	Suriname	669,600 (2016–2018)	Including 150,000 L2 users
Saramaccan	Suriname	34,500 (2018)
Ndyuka	Suriname	67,800 (2018)	Dialects: Aluku, Paramaccan
Kwinti	Suriname	250 (2018)
Southern-Caribbean [edit]
Venezuelan English Creole	Venezuela	unknown, likely endangered (2018)
San Nicolaas English	Aruba	15,000 (estimation) (2020)	Spoken in San Nicolaas, Aruba
North America [edit]
Gullah	United States	300 (2023)	Ethnic population: 250,000
Afro-Seminole Creole	United States Mexico	200 (1990)[12][13][a]	Dialect of theGullah language
West Africa [edit]
Krio	Sierra Leone	8,237,900 (2019)	Including 7,420,000 L2 speakers
Kreyol	Liberia	5,113,000 (2015)	Including 5,000,000 L2 speakers
Ghanaian Pidgin	Ghana	5,002,000 (2011)
Nigerian Pidgin	Nigeria	120,650,000	Including 116,000,000 L2 users
Cameroonian Pidgin	Cameroon	12,000,000 (2017)
Equatorial Guinean Pidgin	Equatorial Guinea	200,000 (2020)	Including 185,000 L2 users (2020)
Pacific [edit]
Hawaiian Pidgin[b]	Hawaii United States	600,000 (2015)	Including 400,000 L2 users[20]
Ngatikese Creole	Micronesia	700 (1983)
Tok Pisin	Papua New Guinea	4,125,740	Including 4,000,000 L2 users (2001)
Pijin	Solomon Islands	564,000 (2012–2019)	530,000 L2 users (1999)
Bislama	Vanuatu	12,570 (2011)
Pitcairn-Norfolk	Pitcairn Norfolk Island	1,786	Almost no L2 users. Has been classified as an Atlantic Creole based on internal structure.[21]
Australian Kriol	Australia	17,160	Including 10,000 L2 users (1991)
Torres Strait Creole	Australia	6,170 (2016)
Bonin English	Japan	Possibly1,000–2000 (2004)[citation needed]
Singlish	Singapore	2,140,000[citation needed]
Manglish	Malaysia	10,300,000[citation needed]

• Bonin English, sometimes considered amixed language
• Iyaric ("Rastafarian")
• Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language

Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus:

• Bay Islands English
• Cayman Islands English

• List of English-based pidgins
• Middle English creole hypothesis
• World Englishes
• Belter Creole

• Holm, John A., ed. (1983).Central American English. Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag.ISBN 3-87276-295-8.
• Holm, John A. (1989)."English-based varieties".Pidgins and Creoles. Vol. 2, Reference Survey. Cambridge University Press. pp. 405–551.ISBN 978-0-521-35940-5.
• Holm, John A. (2000).An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-58581-1.
• Schreier, Daniel;Trudgill, Peter;Schneider, Edgar W.; Williams, Jeffrey P., eds. (2010).The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1-139-48741-2.
• Arends, Jacques; Muysken, Pieter; Smith, Norval (1995).Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. John Benjamins Publishing.ISBN 90-272-5236-X.

• Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures

• English-based pidgins and creoles

• Language articles citing Ethnologue 25
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• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2022
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