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,
Official language languages of Taiwan. In 2012 debate over adopting Russian as a regional language in Ukraine caused "an all-out brawl in Parliament", protests, and the resignation of a lawmaker in attempt to block the bill. The de facto official language of the United Kingdom is English. In Wales, the Welsh language, spoken by approximately 20% of the population, has limited de jure official status.. English is the de facto national language of the United States. While there is no official language at the federal level, 32 of the 50 U.S. states and all six inhabited U.S. territories have designated English as