National and official languages (R-Z): Russia[edit] Main article:Languages of Russia TheRussian languageis the only official language ofRussia, but 27 other languages are considered official in different regions in Russia. Singapore[edit] Main article:Languages of Singapore Singaporehas four official languages:English(Singapore English),Chinese,MalayandTamil. Although English is the primary language of business and government and the main language used in education, Malay is designated as the national language. This is due to the geographical and historical ties to Malaysiaas well as the recognition of ethnicMalays(about 14% of the population) as the indigenous people of Singapore. Traditionally, thelingua francaamong the different ethnic groups in Singapore wasBazaar Malay, a Malay-basedcreole. Since independence, the government has been promoting English as the main language of Singapore. The bilingual education policy requires students to study only two languages: English and a"mother tongue"corresponding to the student's ethnicity. Malay is only offered to non-Malay students as an optional third language in secondary schools. As a result, English has displaced Bazaar Malay as the common language among Singaporeans. Therefore, despite the status of Malay as the national language, the majority of the population do not speak the language. Notable official usage of Malay includes the national anthemMajulah Singapura, and drill commands in theSingapore Armed Forces. South Africa[edit] Main article:Languages of South Africa South Africahas 11official languages. Namely:Afrikaans,English,Ndebele,Northern Sotho,Sotho,Swazi,Tswana,Tsonga,Venda, XhosaandZulu.South African Sign LanguageandDutchare distinct in South Africa though incompletely emerged national standard languages which also subsumes a cluster of semi-standardised dialects. “ Arabic,German,Greek,Gujarati,Hebrew,Hindi,Khoi,Nama,Portuguese,San,Sanskrit,Tamil,Telugu,Urdu,Sign Language are all constitutionally recognised in South Africa. ” The above mentioned languages can be considered as minorityLingua francas— none of these languages are of Official Language Status in the country. Turkey[edit] Main article:Languages of Turkey Ethnically, 10-18% ofTurkey's population are of Kurdish origin, and their language isKurdish. But 95-98% of population can speakTurkish as their first language.[citation needed] In that fact, Turkish is a national language of Turkey. Also there are many other ethnic origins like Circassians,ArabiansorBosnians, and they all can speak Turkish as native language. United Kingdom[edit] Main article:Languages of the United Kingdom TheEnglish language(British English) is the de facto official language of theUnited Kingdomand is spoken monolingually by an estimated 95% of the Britishpopulation.[citation needed] Interestingly, official regional languages exist without reference to a national language. [16] United States[edit] Main article:Languages of the United States In theUnited States, English (American English) is the national language only in an informal sense, by numbers and by historical and contemporary association. The United States Constitutiondoes not explicitly declare anyofficial language, although the constitution is written in English, as is all federal legislation. On 11 February 2009,RepresentativeSteve King(R-IA.) introduced House Bill H.R.997, to declare English as the official language of the United States. On 5 May 2009, SenatorJim Inhofe(R-OK) introduced Senate Bill S.991 as a companion bill. On 26 February 2009, Representative Steve King (R-IA.) introduced House Bill H.R.1229, a bill to amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the official language of the Government of the United States, and for other purposes. On 6 May 2009, SenatorJim Inhofe (R-OK) introduced Bill S.992 as a companion bill. On 10 March 2011, Representative Steve King (R-IA.) introduced House Bill H.R.997, a bill to amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the official language of the Government of the United States, and for other purposes. On 8 March 2011, SenatorJim Inhofe (R-OK) introduced Bill S.503 as a companion bill. On 17 March 2011, RepresentativePeter T. King(R-NY.) introduced House Bill H.R.1164, a bill to amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the official language of the Government of the United States. As of August 2011, the last major actions on these bills were:[17] BillLast Major ActionDate H.R.997 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties 23 July 2009 S.991 Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 6 May 2009 H.R.1229 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties 19 August 2009 S.992 Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 6 May 2009 H.R.997 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution. Vietnam[edit] InVietnam, theVietnamese

National and official languages (J-Q): Kenya[edit] Main article:Languages of Kenya While English is the only official language,Swahilihas a special status as “national language”. None of the country's biggest languages (gikuyu, luo, kamba, kalenjin, etc.) have any official status on the national level. Lebanon[edit] InLebanon, theArabic languageis the"official national"language.[12] Macedonia[edit] The national, and official language of theRepublic of Macedoniais theMacedonian language. Malta[edit] TheMaltese languageis the national language of Malta. It is also the official language of the island, together withEnglish. Maltese only is recognised as"national"in Chapter 1 of the Laws of Malta. Namibia[edit] Main article:Languages of Namibia Although English is the only nationwide official language inNamibia, there are also 20 National languages, which are each spoken by more or less sizeable portions of the population and are considered Namibia's cultural heritage. All national languages have the rights of a minority language and may even serve as a lingua franca in certain regions. Among Namibia's national languages are German, Afrikaans, Oshiwambo,Otjiherero,Portuguese, as well as the languages of theHimba,Nama,San,KavangoandDamara. Nigeria[edit] Main article:Languages of Nigeria Besides official English (Nigerian Standard English), Nigeria recognizes three'majority', or national, languages. These are the big three, Hausa,Igbo, andYoruba, each with some 20 million speakers or more.[13] Pakistan[edit] Main article:Languages of Pakistan Article 251(1) of the1973 Constitution of Pakistan, titled National language, specifies:"The National language ofPakistanis Urdu, and arrangements shall be made for its being used for official and other purposes within fifteen years from the commencing day.Although it has been declared as an official language , so far all the documentation, legislation,legal orders and every thing related on legal front is done in British English.Mostly the studies at the higher level i.e Masters , M.Phil and Phd. level is done in English." [14]National Language Authority is an organization established to make these arrangements since 1979. Philippines[edit] Main article:Languages of the Philippines The 1973Philippine constitutiondesignated Pilipino (aTagalog-based language) and English (Philippine English) as official languages,"until otherwise provided by law"and mandated development and formal adoption of a common national language to be known as Filipino. The 1987 constitution designated theFilipino language, which is based on Tagalog with the inclusion of terms from all recognized languages of the Philippines, as the national language. It also designated both Filipino and English as the official languages for purposes of communication and instruction, and designated the regional languages as auxiliary official languages in the regions to serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein. More than 170languagesare spoken in thePhilippinesand almost all of them belong to theBorneo–Philippines languagesgroup of the Austronesianlanguage family. In 2007, a six-part series titled The Case of Ilokano as a National Language authored by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii appeared in the Culture, Essays, Lifestyle of Tawid News Magazine. [15]As of 2008, leaders from the Ilocos regionand otherIlocano-dominated provinces were considering the possible declaration ofIlocano languageas an official language in their provinces along with the national language to foster the continuity of their language and heritage.

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.

Official regional and minority languages (U-Z): Udmurt: Udmurtia(state language; with Russian)[81] Urdu: India(with 22 other regional languages) Jammu and Kashmir DelhiTerritory Uttar Pradeshstate Biharstate Andhra Pradeshmainly in Hyderabad (former princely state of Nizam) and adjacent areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka Uyghur: Xinjiang(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Veps: Karelia(authorized language; with Finnish and Karelian)[66] Vietnamese: Guangxi Province,China(some regional status) Part ofCambodia Part ofLaos Welsh: Wales(United Kingdom) (with English) Yiddish: Russia(only inJewish Autonomous Oblast, withRussian) Yukaghir: Sakha(local official language; in localities with Yukaghir population)[63] Zhuang: Guangxi(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Lianshan(with Chinese (Mandarin))

Official regional and minority languages (N-T): Náhuatl: Mexico(*only recognized) El Salvador(*only recognized) Nenets: Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug(aboriginal language; with Khanty and Mansi)[71] Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug(aboriginal language; with Khanty and Selkup)[72] Nepali: India(with 22 other regional languages) Nogai: Dagestan(as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[56] Karachay–Cherkessia(state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Russian)[54] Occitan(Aranese): Aran Valley(with Catalan and Spanish) Oriya: India(with 22 other regional languages) Odisha Ossetic(Digor and Iron dialects): North Ossetia—Alania(state language; with Russian)[76] Portuguese:*part of thePeople's Republic of China Macau(withChinese) Punjabi: Pakistan India(with 22 other regional languages) Punjab Delhi Romanian: Vojvodina(with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak and Ruthenian) Russian. Russian is fixed as a state language in the Constitutions of the republics of the Russian Federation: Adygea(state language; with Adyghe)[55] Altay, Republic of(state language; with Altay)[57] Bashkortostan(state language; with Bashkir)[59] Buryatia(state language; with Buryat)[60] Chechnya(state language; with Chechen)[62] Chuvashia(state language; with Chuvash)[64] Dagestan(state language; with the languages of the Dagestan peoples)[56] Ingushetia(state language; with Ingush)[67] Kabardino-Balkaria(state language; with Balkar and Kabardian)[58] Kalmykia(state language; with Kalmyk)[68] Karachay–Cherkessia(state language; with Abaza, Cherkess, Karachay and Nogai)[54] Karelia(state language)[77] Khakassia(state language; with Khakas)[70] Komi(state language; with Komi)[73] Mari El(state language; with Mari (Hill and Meadow))[75] Mordovia(state language; with Erzya and Moksha)[65] North Ossetia—Alania(state language; with Ossetic)[76] Sakha(state language; with Sakha)[78] Tatarstan(state language; with Tatar)[79] Tyva(state language; with Tuvan)[80] Udmurtia(state language; with Udmurt)[81] Russian (withGagauz) is an official language ofGagauzia(autonomous republic withinMoldova) Rusyn: Vojvodina(with Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak) Ukraine Zakarapts'ka region (with Ukrainian, Hungarian) Rutul: Dagestan(as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[56] Sakha: Sakha(state language; with Russian)[78] Sanskrit: India(with 22 other regional languages) Sami: Finland(in four municipalities) Norway(in six municipalities in two provinces) Sweden(in four municipalities and surrounding municipalities) Sarikoli: part of thePeople's Republic of China(It's different from Tajiki of Tajikistan) Taxkorgan(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Scottish Gaelic: Scotland(United Kingdom) (with English and Scots) Scots: Scotland(United Kingdom) (with English and Scottish Gaelic) Northern Ireland(United Kingdom) Donegal(Republic of Ireland) Selkup: Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug(aboriginal language; with Khanty and Nenets)[72] Sindhi: India(with 22 other regional languages) Pakistan(Official language in the Province ofSindhalong withUrduandEnglish) North and South Slavey: Northwest Territories(with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, and Tłįchǫ (Dogrib)) Slovak: part ofSerbia Vojvodina(with Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian and Ruthenian) Slovene: part ofItaly Friuli-Venezia Giulia(withItalian,FriulianandGerman) part ofAustria Carinthia(withGerman) Spanish: Puerto Rico(with English) Philippines(mainly asChavacanoinBasilanandZamboanga Peninsula) Tabasaran: Dagestan(as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[56] Tahitian: French Polynesia(with French) Tamil: India(with 22 other regional languages) Andaman and Nicobar Islands Puducherry Tamil Nadu Tat: Dagestan(as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[56] Tatar: Tatarstan(state language; with Russian)[79] Telugu: India(with 22 other regional languages) Andhra Pradesh Puducherry Tibetan: Tibet Autonomous Region(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Aba(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Garzê(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Diqing(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Wenshan(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Gannan(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Haibai(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Hainan(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Huangnan(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Golog(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Gyêgu(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Haixi(with Mongolian and Chinese (Mandarin)) Muli(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Tianzhu(with Chinese (Mandarin)) Tłįchǫ: Northwest Territories(with Cree, Chipewyan, English, French, Gwich'in, Innuinaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, and South Slavey) Tsakhur: Dagestan(as one of the Dagestan peoples languages; with Russian)[56] Tswana: South Africa(withAfrikaans, English,Ndebele,Northern Sotho,Sotho,Swati,Tsonga,Venda,Xhosa,Zulu) Turkish: MacedoniainPlasnicaandCentar Župa KosovoinPrizrenandMamuša part ofBulgaria Tuvan: Tyva(state language; with Russian)[80]