Languages of The United States - Official Language Status

Official Language Status

The United States does not have a national official language; nevertheless, English (specifically American English) is the primary language used for legislation, regulations, executive orders, treaties, federal court rulings, and all other official pronouncements; although there are laws requiring documents such as ballots to be printed in multiple languages when there are large numbers of non-English speakers in an area.

As part of what has been called the English-only movement, some states have adopted legislation granting official status to English. As of April 2011, out of 50 states, 28 had established English as the official language, including Hawaii where English and Hawaiian are both official.

Place	English official	Other language(s)	Note	Ref
Alabama	Yes	No	since 1990
Alaska	Yes	No	since 2007; 1998 law ruled unconstitutional
Arizona	Yes	No	since 2006; 1988 law ruled unconstitutional
Arkansas	Yes	No	since 1987
California	Yes	No	since 1986
Colorado	Yes	No	since 1988
Connecticut	No	No
Delaware	No	No
Florida	Yes	No	since 1988
Georgia	Yes	No	since 1996
Hawaii	Yes	Hawaiian	since 1978
Idaho	Yes	No	since 2007
Illinois	Yes	No	since 1969; "American" official 1923-1969
Indiana	Yes	No	since 1984
Iowa	Yes	No	since 2002
Kansas	Yes	No	since 2007
Kentucky	Yes	No	since 1984
Louisiana	No	No
Maine	No	No
Maryland	No	No
Massachusetts	No	No
Michigan	No	No
Minnesota	No	No
Mississippi	Yes	No	since 1987
Missouri	No	No
Montana	Yes	No	since 1995
Nebraska	Yes	No	since 1923
Nevada	No	No
New Hampshire	Yes	No	since 1995
New Jersey	No	No
New Mexico	No	No	Spanish has had special status since 1912 passage of state constitution	see article
New York	No	No
North Carolina	Yes	No	since 1987
North Dakota	Yes	No	since 1987
Ohio	No	No
Oklahoma	Yes	No	since 2010
Oregon	No	No	English Plus since 1989
Pennsylvania	No	No
Rhode Island	No	No	English Plus since 1992
South Carolina	Yes	No	since 1987
South Dakota	Yes	No	since 1995
Tennessee	Yes	No	since 1984
Texas	No	No
Utah	Yes	No	since 2000
Vermont	No	No
Virginia	Yes	No	since 1981
Washington	No	No	English Plus since 1989
West Virginia	No	No
Wisconsin	No	No
Wyoming	Yes	No	since 1996
American Samoa	Yes	Samoan
District of Columbia	No	No
Guam	Yes	Chamorro
Northern Mariana Islands	Yes	Chamorro, Carolinian
Puerto Rico	Yes	Spanish
U.S. Virgin Islands	Yes	No

Read more about this topic: Languages Of The United States

Famous quotes containing the words official, language and/or status:

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