Arabic Language Day

     The United Nations launched UN Language Days on February 19, 2010. The initiative seeks to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity.   

     International Mother Language Day has been proclaimed by UNESCO in 1999. It has been observed each year beginning from 2000 to focus on endangered languages and the importance of preserving these languages.

     Arabic language has been approved by UN as official working language on December 18, 1973.

     Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more speakers than any other language in the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language most of them live in the Middle East and North Africa and by 250 million more as a second language. Arabic has many different, geographically distributed spoken varieties some of which are mutually unintelligible Modern Standard Arabic which is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in workplaces, government and the media.