What is fyi.news?
- The USA adopts an official language
- What does this mean?
- “America First”
- What does “official language” mean?
- Which countries don’t have an official language?
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Mexico
- Eritrea
(fyiteam)US President Donald Trump signed an executive order* that establishes English as the official language of the United States, with the goal of “strengthening the unity” of the country.
The order cancels a 2000 directive from then-President Bill Clinton, which aimed to ease access to public services for “citizens with limited English proficiency.”
In nearly 250 years of history, the US is establishing an official language at the federal level, though more than 30 states had already designated English as such.
*It requires Congressional approval to take effect.
(fyiteam)Due to their linguistic diversity (over 350 languages spoken), a result of immigration, the United States has never had an official language.
From now on, federal agencies will not be required to provide services or documents in other languages, and it will be up to department heads to decide whether to do so.
This follows the removal, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, of the Spanish-language version of the official White House website, which, despite the new administration’s promises to restore it, has not yet been reinstated.
78.3% of individuals aged 5 and older in the US report speaking only English at home.
(fyiteam)“Here we speak English, not Spanish,” Trump said in 2015 during his first presidential campaign.
Today, about 43 million people (14%) in the US speak Spanish as their primary language. When including those who speak Spanish as a second language, the US becomes the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico.
“Trump is sending the message that if you’re not white, wealthy, and don’t speak English, you don’t belong here,” said immigrant rights organizations.
(fyiteam)It is the language used by a country for its “official, everyday tasks,” according to the International IDEA Institute (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance).
Its definition can help “define the character of the state and the cultural identity of its people,” says IDEA. However, this could place “a specific group of people in a position of power” and exclude others.
Out of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, only 4 have not designated an official language. These are:
In addition, 59 countries have made English an official language, but neither the United Kingdom nor Australia is among them.
Over 170 countries have designated at least one official language, with some having three (e.g., Belgium) or more (e.g., Switzerland).
(fyiteam)For an empire that once covered a quarter of the Earth and controlled a quarter of the global population, English was never designated as the official language.
It is spoken by 98% of the population today, while 700,000 people speak Welsh, the only officially recognized language in the United Kingdom.
Around 1.5 million people speak Scots (though there is ongoing debate over whether it is a distinct language or a dialect), and the same applies to Irish (Gaelic), spoken in Northern Ireland, which is the official language of Ireland (along with English).
(fyiteam)Although English is not the official language of Australia, it is de facto spoken by 80% of the population.
There are hundreds of Aboriginal languages (indigenous to Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania), though many have disappeared since 1950, and most of the surviving languages are spoken by very few people.
Languages widely spoken in Australia, due to the significant immigrant population, include Chinese, Italian, and Greek.
(fyiteam)The most spoken language in Mexico is Spanish, with 93.8% of the population speaking only Spanish. However, it has not been declared the official language of the country.
The reasoning behind this is that the government, while using Spanish for most official matters, aims to promote the country’s other languages. In addition to Spanish, 68 national languages are recognized, 63 of which are spoken by indigenous people.
(fyiteam)Eritrea is the fourth country without an official language, as its Constitution guarantees “equality for all languages spoken in Eritrea.”
Tigrinya and Arabic are the languages used by the government for various official functions, with English being used in universities. In addition, six other languages are officially recognized.
Half of the global Tigrinya-speaking population resides in the Tigray region of neighboring Ethiopia.
