![]() ![]() In the 1940s, as the conclusion of World War II was nearing, the Allies held a multitude of conferences, including the London Declaration, the Arcadia Conference, the Cairo Conference, the Tehran Conference, the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference. There was an effort to select Esperanto as an additional language of the League but that was rejected. Spanish was selected due to the large number of first-language speakers in Latin America and the former Spanish Empire. English and French were chosen due to the global reach of the British Empire and the French Empire. The League of Nations selected English, French, and Spanish as official languages with English and French being the working languages. In 1920, the League of Nations was one of the first international institutions to promote the concept of international official languages to foster communication and spur global diplomacy in the aftermath of the brutality of World War I. The six languages are official languages in almost two-thirds of United Nations member states (over 120 states). The six official languages spoken at the UN are the first or second language of 2.8 billion people on the planet, less than half of the world population. Most UN councils use all six languages as official and working languages however, as of 2023 the United Nations Secretariat uses only two working languages: English and French. Generally, the texts in each of the six languages are equally authoritative. The six official languages are also used for the dissemination of official documents. The UN provides simultaneous interpretation from the official language into the other five official languages, via the United Nations Interpretation Service. Each representative of a country may speak in any one of these six languages or may speak in any language and provide interpretation into one of the six official languages. These languages are used at meetings of various UN organs, particularly the General Assembly (Article 51 of its Rules of Procedure), the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council (Article 41 of its Rules of Procedure). Spanish – due to being the official or de facto national language in several countries in the Americas (mainly Hispanic America), although original country Spain is not a permanent member.Arabic ( Modern Standard Arabic) – due to it being the official or de facto national language of several countries in the Middle East and North Africa and used in the Arab world.While the remaining two languages are official due to the large number of their speakers: Russian – due to the official language of the Russian Federation.French – due to the official language of France.It is also the most popular language, lingua franca, and a majority or official language in 58 countries and 31 non-sovereign territories, especially those within the Commonwealth of Nations. English – due to the majority and de facto official language of the United Kingdom and the United States.Chinese ( Mandarin Chinese in simplified Chinese characters) – due to the official language of the People's Republic of China.Of the six languages, four are the official language or national language of permanent members in the Security Council: Afterward, it's up to the country(ies) of the new language to help financially support the translation and interpretation services. įor the United Nations to select a language to be official, a majority of the 193 members need to vote in favor of it. The official languages of the United Nations are the six languages used in UN meetings and in which the UN writes all its official documents. Six international languages used by the United Nations ![]()
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