Chinese as an official language

The following is a list of territorial entities where Chinese is an official language. While those countries or territories that designate Chinese as an official language use the term "Chinese", as Chinese is a group of related language varieties, of which many are not mutually intelligible, in the context of the spoken language such designations are usually understood as designations of specific varieties of Chinese, namely Standard Cantonese Chinese and Standard Mandarin Chinese. In the context of the written language, written modern standard Chinese is usually understood to be the official standard, though different territories use different standard scripts, namely Traditional Chinese characters and Simplified Chinese characters.

Today, Chinese has an official language status in five countries/regions or territories. In China and Taiwan it is the sole official language as Mandarin, while in Singapore (as Mandarin) it is one of the four official languages. In Hong Kong and Macau it is a co-official language as Cantonese, alongside English and Portuguese respectively. Chinese is also an official language in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and also one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Chinese was added as an official language in the United Nations in 1973, when the General Assembly made Chinese a working language.

Nearly every historic Chinese dynasty and state has had some form of Chinese as an official language. The spoken language of bureaucrats and officials, also known as Mandarin has usually been based on the local speech of capital city. Historical states associated with Korea, Japan, and Vietnam have also used Classical Chinese as an official written language, but for inter-personal communication used their respective native languages. Other states and countries that have used written or spoken Chinese in an official capacity include, Manchukuo, Ryukyu Kingdom and Lanfang Republic.

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