A pidgin is a simplified language. Pidgins usually develop because two groups of people need to talk to each other but do not speak the same language. Pidgins are not usually as complicated as many other languages.

Not all simple or "broken" forms of language are pidgins. Pidgins have rules which a person must learn to speak the pidgin well.

Countries that use pidgin languages as their official languages include Papua New Guinea, Jamaica and some other Caribbean and Central American countries.