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 status of Romanian language in Vojvodina Official status of Romanian language in Vojvodina The Romanian language is one of six official languages in the Serbian province of Vojvodina. The official use of the Romanian language is determined in Vojvodina by the law, and established at the provincial level in the bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, as well at local level in 8 municipalities. 29,512 citizens of Vojvodina dispersed within 42 settlements (forming majority in 19 settlements) declared Romanian language as their mother tongue at the 2002 census, accounting for 1.45% of the total population of Vojvodina and representing the fourth largest language spoken in