Which independent states do not have a statewide official language?

satguru

The first example that comes to mind is Switzerland, which shares French, Italian and German although it has a semi-official Schweizerdeutsch, ie Swiss German dialect of its own. Belgium is officially divided between French and Flemish, though usually signs are provided in both. Jan 20 07, 7:29 PM

author

I was rather thinking about countries who do not have an official language at all. There should be at least six countries with no statewide official langiage. But I can see why my question was misinterpreted. Jan 20 07, 7:51 PM

star_gazer

The US has refrained from making English its official language, so it would be one. Jan 20 07, 10:38 PM

author

You may consider these, too: UK, Australia, Mexico, Sweden and even the Vatican City. Tell me your opinion about this, I am not an expert. Do these countries have official languages at all? F.ex. I read that Mexico has none on the federal level. Jan 21 07, 9:11 PM

author

Forget about the Vatican City: I think that Latin is indeed the official language there. But what about UK, Australia, Mexico, Sweden? And, by the way: New Zealand? Do they have an official language, and is it Maori? And why is it that English is not the official language of Austrialia? Jan 21 07, 9:27 PM

Baloo55th

So far as I know, English is official throughout the UK for Government publications and road signs, with Welsh also being official in Wales for publications and road signs, and Gaelic in Scotland for publications. As we have no written constitution, it may not be laid down by in writing. Australia probably has no official language because there were no other than English speakers there. Aborigines didn't count, of course. You only need a language to be made official when there are rivals to it, as in France with Breton, Basque, Occitan, Corsican, German and Italian being minority languages. In New Zealand, both English and Maori are official. Jan 22 07, 7:40 AM