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An official language is a language that is specifically
designated to be so in the constitutions of countries, states, and other territories. (States and areas without a constitution, by this definition, lack
official languages.)
Half the countries in the world have official languages. Some have only one official language, such as Albania, France (although there are more native languages in
France), Germany or Lithuania. Some
have more than one official language, as Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Finland,
Afghanistan, Paraguay, Bolivia, India, Switzerland and South Africa.
In some countries, such as Iraq, Italy and
Spain, there is an official language for the country, but other languages are co-official
in some important regions. Some countries, such as the United States,
have no official languages, but there are official languages in some US states (See Languages in the United States). Finally,
some countries have no official languages, such as Australia, Eritrea, Luxembourg, Sweden or Tuvalu.
As a consequence of colonialism and/or neocolonialism, in some countries in Africa and in the
Philippines the official and learning languages (French or English) are not the national languages or the most widely spoken. In contrast, as a consequence of
nationalism, in the Republic of Ireland Irish, although spoken by
only a small proportion of people is the state's national language, and the first official language. English, the spoken language of the majority is described only as the
second official language (Constitution of Ireland, Article 8).
In some countries, the issue of which language is to be used in what contexts is a major political issue. There is a list of such countries.
See also
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