Official language to the government in their native languages. In countries that do not formally designate an official language, a "de facto" national language usually evolves. English is the most common official language, with recognized status in 51 countries. Arabic, French, and Spanish are also widely recognized. An official language that is also an indigenous language is called "endoglossic", one that is not indigenous is "exoglossic". An instance is Nigeria which has three endoglossic official languages. By this the country aims to protect the indigenous languages although at the same time recognising the English language as its lingua franca. Around 500 BC,
Commission of the Lithuanian Language Commission of the Lithuanian Language The State Commission of the Lithuanian Language () is the official language regulating body of the Lithuanian language. The Language Commission was put in operation in 1961 as a non-governmental entity under the auspices of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Now, it is a state-run institution, founded under the auspices of the Seimas (parliament) of Lithuania. The mandate of the Commission comprises not only regulation and standardisation of the language, but also implementation of the official language status. Commission decrees on linguistic issues are compulsory by law to all companies, agencies, institutions, and the media