Countries without an official language?
Only four internationally recognised nation-states do not currently have a de jure or official primary language:
- UK see here
- Australia: Over 80% of people speak English, but there is no official national language.
- Eritrea: Tigrinya, Arabic, and English are the working languages.
- Mexico: The vast majority speak Spanish, but it is not the official language. There are 68 recognised indigenous languages.
What about the USA?
Here the situation is complex. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 1, 2025, designating English as the federal government's official language. But this is not a constitutional amendment, so a future administration could reverse it.
32 individual states have made English their official language - in most cases following a successful ballot initiative
An extended version of this piece is on Medium (3-min free read)