National and official languages (A-I): Algeria[edit] Arabicis a national language inAlgeria. Andorra[edit] Andorra's national language isCatalan, however the Catalan language is aregional languagein Spain (Catalonia, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands, the Catalan-Aragonese borderlands known asLa Franjaand the Murcian municipality ofEl Carche), France (Pyrénées Orientales ) and in Italy (Alghero). Bulgaria[edit] Bulgarian languageis the national language inBulgaria. Bangladesh[edit] Bangla (Bengali)is the national language ofBangladesh. Canada[edit] Main articles:Nationalisms in Canada,Bilingualism in Canada, andLanguages of Canada Canada's official languages since theOfficial Languages Act of 1969areEnglish(Canadian English) andFrench(Canadian French). Depending on one's views of what constitute a"nation"these two languages may be considered two equal national languages of a nation called"Canada", or the national languages of two nations within one state, English CanadaandFrench Canada. Quebec nationalistsconsiderQuebec Frenchthe national language of the Quebec nation. Besides this there manyAboriginal languages of Canadawhich are the national languages of one or more of Canada'sFirst Nationsgroups (formerly"Indians"), Inuit(formerly"Eskimos"), andMetis(mixed First Nations-European people). Notably theCree languageis spoken (with variations) from Alberta to Labrador. Greater China[edit] See also:Languages of China,Standard ChineseandHistory of Mandarin. InChina, plenty ofspoken variantsexist in different parts of the country. In ancient times, several local dialects were chosen as the official spoken language, such as the dialects from Hangzhou,Nanjing, etc. After theXinhai Revolutionin 1911, theKuomintang(Chinese nationalists) founded theRepublic of China(ROC). In order to promote a sense of national unity and enhance the efficiency of communications within the nation, the ROC decided to designate a national language. The Beijing dialectofMandarinandGuangzhou dialectofCantonesewere the most popular options. Ultimately the Beijing dialect was chosen as the national language and given the name 國語 in Chinese ( Pinyin: Guóyǔ, lit. national language, commonly known as"Standard Chinese"in English). In the beginning, there were attempts to introduce elements from other Chinese spoken variants into the national language, in addition to those existing in the Beijing dialect, but this was deemed too difficult and was abandoned in 1924. Since then, the Beijing dialect became the major source of standard national pronunciation, due to its prestigious status in the preceding Qing Dynasty. Elements from other dialects exist in the standard language. After theChinese Civil Warin 1949, theChinese Communist Partyestablished the People's Republic of China (PRC) inmainland China. The Kuomintangregime of theRepublic of Chinaretreated to the island ofTaiwanand maintained the same policy. Similarly, the People's Republic of China, which administers mainland China, continued the effort and renamed the national language, largely based on the Beijing dialect, as 普通话 (Pinyin: pǔtōnghuà, lit. common speech).[3] Finland[edit] Main article:Languages of Finland Finlandhas two national languages: namely theFinnish languageand theSwedish language. TheConstitution of Finlandguarantees the right to use Finnish and Swedish in courts and other state institutions. [4][5]The Language Act details the use of the languages by public authorities. [6]Finnish is spoken by circa 90 percent of the population while Swedish is spoken by circa 5 percent. Despite the large difference in the numbers of users, Swedish is not officially classified as a minority language but equal to Finnish. Both national languages are compulsory subjects in school (except for children with a third language as mother tongue) and a language test is a prerequisite for governmental offices where a university degree is required. The constitution also grants the Sami and the Roma peoples the right to maintain and develop their languages: The Sami have partial right to use Sami languagesin official situations according to other laws.[7] India[edit] Main article:Languages of India As either the Constitution nor any Indian law defines any national language, India has no national language.[8]This was affirmed by the Gujarat High Courtin 2010.[9]Article 343 of theConstitution of Indiaspecifies that the official language ofIndiaisHindiinDevanagari script, withEnglishas an additional language for official work. Article 345 states that a state of India may officially adopt one or more languagesin use in the state or Hindi/English as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that state. [10] Ireland[edit] Main article:Languages of Ireland Irishis recognised by theConstitution of Irelandas the national language and first official language of Ireland, and the English language is recognised as a second official language.