An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction.
Typically a country's official language refers to the language used
within government (e.g., courts, parliament, administration). Since "the means of expression of a people cannot be changed by any law", the term "official language" does not typically refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government.
Worldwide,
178 countries have at least one official language, and 101 of these
countries recognise more than one language. Many of the world's
constitutions mention one or more official and/or national languages. Some
countries use the official language designation to empower indigenous
groups by giving them access 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.
