Indonesian is the official language of the state, as well as the province. However, several varieties of Malay are spoken in the province. There are fifteen different varieties of Malay spoken in the Riau Islands, most of which are mutually intelligible with Indonesian, which is a standardized form of Malay. The Riau Islands are considered the birthplace of the modern Malay language, though it was the classical Malaccan Malay of the Johor court rather than Riau Malay that formed the basis of the standard Indonesian language. The common Riau Islands Malay dialect, which is spoken in major cities such as Tanjung Pinang and Batam is similar to the Malay used in Johor, Malaysia, although it is much more influenced by the Indonesian language. It served as the "lingua franca" of the province.