section_path: Demographics/Language
section_name: Language
paragraph_text: Language
  
  The English language is the de facto official and most widely spoken language in the United Kingdom. The UK promotes the language globally to build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.
  
  In the UK, the English language is spoken with distinctive characteristics that collectively form what is known as British English. The variety of dialects and accents is often noted, with nearby regions frequently having highly distinct variations. RP (Received Pronunciation) is traditionally associated with educated speakers in southern England. The main national dialects are Scottish English, Welsh English and Northern Irish English. Distinctive regional varieties include Brummie, Cockney, Geordie, Mancunian, Scouse, West Country, Yorkshire and MLE (Multicultural London English).
  
  Three indigenous Celtic languages are spoken in the UK: Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Cornish, which became extinct as a first language in the late-18th century, is being revived and has a small group of second-language speakers. According to the 2021 census the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8 per cent). In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh-speakers live in England. In the 2021 census in Northern Ireland 12.4 per cent of people had some Irish language ability and 10.4 per cent of people had some facility in the Ulster-Scots language. Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2 per cent of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72 per cent of those living in the Outer Hebrides. The number of children being taught either Welsh or Scottish Gaelic is increasing. Scots, a language descended from early northern Middle English, has limited recognition alongside its regional variant, Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion. As of April 2020 there are around 151,000 users of British Sign Language (BSL), a sign language used by deaf people, in the UK.
  
  It is estimated that 95 per cent of the UK's population are monolingual English speakers. Over 5 per cent of the population are estimated to speak languages brought to the UK as a result of immigration. South Asian languages are the largest group, which includes Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Sylheti, Hindi, Pahari-Pothwari, Tamil and Gujarati. According to the 2011 census Polish has become the second-largest language spoken in England and has 546,000 speakers. In 2019 some three-quarters of a million people spoke little or no English.