List of countries where language is a political issue |
This is a list of countries where language is a political
issue. It is NOT a list of countries with more than one official language, or more than one language community.
Many countries in the world have more than one official
language. This may simply reflect the existence of well defined groups speaking different languages, often including minority
groups near borders, and in many such cases the use of multiple languages is unproblematic. However in some cases the issue of
which language is to be used in what contexts is a major political issue, with the rights of particular language groups a
constant source of political friction. Only these latter cases are listed here.
Assessments of gravity
The list attempts to give an idea of the gravity of the problem, but this is inevitably a subjective judgement and liable to
change. The ratings are:
- Serious - language is a major organizing principle of the country's politics, and language disputes persistently threaten the
unity of the country and/or involve violent protest or terrorist action
- Moderate - language disputes regularly arise, but are currently contained
- Minor - language issues are the concern of a small minority of the population (though those people may take them intensely
seriously)
List of countries
Note that only the languages in dispute are listed here; several of these countries have additional language communities.
Languages are listed in alphabetic order for each country.
- Belarus (Russian
and Belarusian): moderate in past, now serious
- Belgium (Dutch and
French): moderate to serious
- Canada (English and
French, mostly confined to Quebec): moderate, serious in past.
- Finland (see Toinen kotimainen kieli): minor
- France (Languages
of France): minor
- Greece (varieties of Modern
Greek): solved after 1975
- India (English and
Hindi, Hindi and local language in some states): serious to minor
- Ireland (English
and Irish): moderate
- Latvia (Latvian and
Russian): minor to moderate
- Moldova (Russian, Moldovan, and Romanian): serious
- New Zealand (English and Maori): moderate
- Norway (Written language only, bokmål and nynorsk): moderate to minor
- Spain (Basque, Catalan, Galician and
Spanish): serious. Basque, Catalan and Galician are co-official in
certain regions.
- Switzerland (issues between French and German in some cantons):
minor
- Taiwan (Chinese dialects: Mandarin, Taiwanese, and to some extent Hakka): moderate
- United Kingdom (English, Scottish Gaelic,
Scots in Scotland and Ulster, Cornish, Welsh, Irish Gaelic):
minor; moderate in Welsh-language case
- Ukraine (Russian
and Ukrainian): moderate to serious
- United States (English and Spanish, English and Hawaiian in Hawaii, English and
various Native American languages on Indian reservations): minor (see Spanish in the United States)
See also:
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