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
Theatre of Zambia Theatre of Zambia Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa. Modern Zambian theatre has developed syncretically from the melding of traditional local ritual and ceremonial forms of dance, drama and narrative storytelling, with Western theatre that was introduced during the colonial period. Zambia is homeland to seventy-three Bantu peoples, each with their own language. Traditional rituals and ceremonies of the region incorporated dance and/or dramatic elements included: Additionally, there were widespread traditions of oral storytelling, particularly fables featuring the trickster hare Kalulu and other animals, which promoted moral behaviour and satirised human foibles. Performance of traditional rituals and ceremonies