United Kingdom

=== Languages ===
{{Main|Languages of the United Kingdom}}

The [[English language]] is the official and most spoken language of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=English language&nbsp;– Government, citizens and rights |url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |access-date=23 August 2011 |website=[[Directgov]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mac Sithigh |first=Daithí |date=17 May 2018 |title=Official status of languages in the UK and Ireland |url=https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/141540053/Status_OA_Feb_2018.pdf |journal=Common Law World Review |publisher=Queen's University, Belfast |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=77–102 |doi=10.1177/1473779518773642 |s2cid=219987922}}</ref> The United Kingdom proactively promotes the language globally to build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.<ref>British Council {{Cite web |title=British Council &#124; the UK's international culture and education organisation |url=https://www.britishcouncil.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201181104/https://www.britishcouncil.org/ |archive-date=1 February 2023 |access-date=5 December 2018}} (last checked 6 February 2023)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=About BBC Learning English |url=https://www.bbc.com/learningenglish/english/hygiene |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204204233/https://www.bbc.com/learningenglish/english/hygiene |archive-date=4 February 2023 |access-date=9 February 2023 |website=BBC}}</ref> It is estimated that 95 per cent of the UK's population are [[monolingual]] English speakers.<ref name="BBC languages">{{Cite web |title=Languages across Europe: United Kingdom |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/uk.shtml |access-date=4 February 2013 |website=BBC}}</ref> 5.5 per cent of the population are estimated to speak languages brought to the UK as a result of relatively recent immigration.<ref name="BBC languages" /> South Asian languages are the largest grouping which includes [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Urdu]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Sylheti language|Sylheti]], [[Hindi]], [[Pahari-Pothwari]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]].<ref>Carl Skutsch (2013). ''Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities''. pp.1261. Routledge. Retrieved 3 December 2020.</ref> According to the 2011 census, [[Polish language|Polish]] has become the second-largest language spoken in England and has 546,000 speakers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Booth |first=Robert |date=30 January 2013 |title=Polish becomes England's second language |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jan/30/polish-becomes-englands-second-language |access-date=4 February 2012 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> In 2019, some three-quarters of a million people spoke little or no English.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 April 2019 |title=The teenagers who translate for their parents |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-47982494/the-teenagers-who-translate-for-their-parents |access-date=23 April 2019 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
[[File:Bilingual welcome sign Newry.jpg|thumb|[[Bilingual sign]] ([[Irish language|Irish]] and [[English language|English]]) in [[Newry]], [[Northern Ireland]]]]

Three indigenous [[Celtic languages]] are spoken in the UK: [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]]. [[Cornish language|Cornish]], which became extinct as a first language in the late 18th century, is subject to revival efforts and has a small group of second language speakers.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Track |first1=Robert Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLx9AgAAQBAJ&q=%E2%80%9Cthese+people+speak+the+dead+language+as+a+second+language%E2%80%9D&pg=PA63 |title=Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts |last2=Stockwell, Peter |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-41358-9 |page=63 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=4 August 2019}}; {{Cite web |title=Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Strasbourg, 1.II.1995 |url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Council of Europe}}; {{Cite web |title=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992 |url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Council of Europe}}</ref><ref name="reglang" /> According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], the [[Welsh-speaking population]] of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 people (17.8 per cent).<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 December 2022 |title=Welsh language in Wales (Census 2021) |url=https://gov.wales/welsh-language-wales-census-2021-html |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=gov.wales |language=en}}</ref> In addition, it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wynn Thomas |first=Peter |date=March 2007 |title=Welsh today |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/welsh.shtml |access-date=5 July 2011 |website=Voices |publisher=BBC}}</ref> In the 2021 census in Northern Ireland 12.4% of people had some ability in the [[Irish language in Northern Ireland|Irish language]] and 10.4% of people had some ability in the [[Ulster Scots dialect|Ulster-Scots]] language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2021: Main statistics for Northern Ireland |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-main-statistics-for-northern-ireland-phase-1-statistical-bulletin-language.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210110853/https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-main-statistics-for-northern-ireland-phase-1-statistical-bulletin-language.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2024 |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref> Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2 per cent of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72 per cent of those living in the [[Outer Hebrides]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotland's Census 2001&nbsp;– Gaelic Report |url=http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/scotlands-census-2001-gaelic-report.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522110328/http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/scotlands-census-2001-gaelic-report.html |archive-date=22 May 2013 |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=General Register Office for Scotland}}</ref> The number of children being taught either Welsh or Scottish Gaelic is increasing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 February 2009 |title=Local UK languages 'taking off' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7885493.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref> [[Scots language|Scots]], a language descended from early northern [[Middle English]], has limited [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|recognition]] alongside its regional variant, [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]] in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion.<ref name="reglang" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Language Data&nbsp;– Scots |url=http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2449&Itemid=52&lang=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623185445/http://eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2449&Itemid=52&lang=en |archive-date=23 June 2007 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages}}</ref> As of April 2020, there are said to be around 151,000 users of [[British Sign Language]] (BSL), a [[sign language]] used by deaf people, in the UK.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Hannah |date=23 April 2020 |title='People are dying because of this': Calls for UK Gov to follow Scotland with sign language interpreter at Covid-19 briefing |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/people-are-dying-because-calls-uk-gov-follow-scotland-sign-language-interpreter-covid-19-briefing-2547989 |access-date=19 December 2021 |work=The Scotsman}}</ref>