An
official language is something that is given a unique status in the
countries,
states, and other territories. It is typically the language used in a nation's
legislative bodies, though the law in many nations requires that government documents be produced in other languages as well.
Officially recognized
minority languages are often mistaken for official languages. However, a language officially recognized by a state, taught in schools, and used in official communication is not necessarily an official language. For example,
Ladin and
Sardinian in
Italy and
Mirandese in
Portugal are only officially recognized minority languages, not official languages in the strict sense.
Half of the countries in the world have official languages. Some have only one official language, such as
Albania,
France, or
Lithuania, despite the fact that in all these countries there are other native languages spoken as well. Some have more than one official language, such as
Afghanistan,
Belarus,
Belgium,
Bolivia,
Canada,
Eritrea,
Finland,
India,
Paraguay,
South Africa, and
Switzerland.
In some countries, such as
Iraq,
Italy,
Philippines,
Russia and
Spain, there is an official language for the country, but other languages are co-official in some important regions. Some countries, such as
Sweden,
Tuvalu, and the
United States have no official languages.
The official languages of some former colonies, typically
French or
English, are not the national languages or the most widely spoken language.
In contrast, as a consequence of
nationalism,
Irish is the "national language" of the
Republic of Ireland and its first official language, although it is spoken by only a small fraction of its people. English, which is spoken by 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 context is a major political issue; see
List of countries where language is a political issue.
See also
Category:Language varieties and styles
Category:Politics
ang:Ambihtlicu sprǽc
bg:Официален език
br:Yezh ofisiel
ca:Llengua oficial
cs:Úřední jazyk
cy:Iaith Swyddogol
de:Amtssprache
et:Riigikeel
es:Idioma oficial
eo:Oficiala lingvo
fr:Langue officielle
ko:공용어
hr:Službeni jezik
is:Opinbert tungumál
ka:სახელმწიფო ენა
lb:Offiziell Sprooch
lt:Valstybinė kalba
hu:Hivatalos nyelv
zh-min-nan:Koaⁿ-hong gí-giân
nl:Officiële taal
nds:Amtsspraak
ja:公用語
no:Offisielle språk
pl:Język urzędowy
pt:Língua oficial
ro:Limbă oficială
ru:Государственный язык
simple:Official language
sl:Uradni jezik
sr:Службени језик
fi:Virallinen kieli
sv:Officiellt språk
tl:Wikang opisyal
tt:Räsmi tel
zh:官方语言