The first minister also answered questions on water supplies to Wales, lowering the voting age to sixteen and ensuring that the Welsh Language Commissioner has operational and financial independence.

BBC: First minister's questions

Even though the Kazakh language has seen something of a rebirth since independence, there is a shortage of talented Kazakh journalists.

ECONOMIST: Kazakhstan

Samoan Language Week starts on Wednesday 1 June, Samoan Independence Day.

UNESCO: samoan11_1.jpg

Perhaps this feminine touch will help, as women appear to be put off by the muscular language in which male politicians clothe their arguments for independence.

ECONOMIST: A campaign to get women to vote for an independent Scotland

And the language divide is much less contentious in Wales and Scotland than it is in Canada, where pressure for independence in Quebec is intimately bound up with French-speakers' worry about the survival of their language and culture.

ECONOMIST: Devolution: The choice for Scotland and Wales | The

With independence in 1962, the adoption of Arabic as the national language was a natural choice to mark the break with France and forge an identity suited to the country's new status as a third-world leader.

ECONOMIST: Algeria