Official language

An official language is one which is given political recognition in a region, usually a state, and is typically used in national parliaments or conferences, bureaucracy and law courts. Often these languages are widely-spoken in the territory where they have been made official, but in many cases they are not the first or second languages of many people. For example, English is an official language of India, but most Indian citizens have other native languages or do not speak English at all. Frequently, an official language serves a unifying purpose, allowing peoples of differing linguistic backgrounds to communicate, or it allows communication with speakers from other countries by virtue of also being an international lingua franca.

See also

• National language
• Minority language