Official language after unifying the country in 221 BC. Classical Chinese would remain the standard written language for the next 2000 years. Standardization of the spoken language received less political attention, and Mandarin developed on an "ad hoc" basis from the dialects of the various imperial capitals until being officially standardized in the early twentieth century. According to an undated chart by the American pro-English-only organization known as U.S. English, 178 countries have an official language at the national level. Among those, English is the most common with 67 nations giving it official status. French is second with 29 countries, Arabic is
Kasama, Zambia Codrington established a boma at Kasama and the town's central location as well as its closeness to Chitimukulu's court led to it eventually becoming the largest and dominant town of the north-eastern lobe of what became Northern Rhodesia, then later, Zambia. The town has a few modern facilities, among them are a Shoprite Checkers branch, budget stores, a local supermarket called PJT and four bakeries. The town has branches of Zambian commercial banks including Zambia National Commercial Bank, National Savings & Credit Bank, Atlas Mara Bank Zambia Limited, Standard Chartered Zambia, Cavmont Bank, Barclays Bank of Zambia and Indo-Zambia Bank