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Rank code: 2098
Country Comparison :: Languages
This entry provides a rank ordering of languages starting with the largest and sometimes includes the percent of total population speaking that language.
Rank country (%) Date of Information
1 France 100.00 NA 2 Greece 99.00 NA 3 Marshall Islands 98.20 NA 4 Poland 97.80 2002 census 5 Armenia 97.70 2001 census 6 Nicaragua 97.50 NA 7 Croatia 96.10 2001 census 8 Cambodia 95.00 NA 9 Cayman Islands 95.00 1999 census 10 Kazakhstan 95.00 2001 est. 11 Czech Republic 94.90 2001 census 12 Jersey 94.50 2001 census 13 Hungary 93.60 2001 census 14 Mexico 92.70 2005 15 Seychelles 91.80 2002 census 16 Finland 91.20 2007 17 New Zealand 91.20 2006 Census 18 Slovenia 91.10 2002 census 19 Romania 91.00 NA 20 Hong Kong 90.80 2006 census 21 American Samoa 90.60 2000 census 22 Azerbaijan 90.30 1999 census 23 Malta 90.20 2005 census 24 Mongolia 90.00 1999 25 Austria 88.60 2001 census 26 Serbia 88.30 NA 27 Macau 85.70 2001 census 28 Bulgaria 84.50 2001 census 29 Peru 84.10 2007 Census 30 Slovakia 83.90 2001 census 31 United States 82.10 NA 32 Lithuania 82.00 2001 census 33 Curacao 81.20 2001 census 34 Mauritius 80.50 2000 census 35 Mali 80.00 NA 36 Australia 78.50 2006 Census 37 Botswana 78.20 2001 census 38 Virgin Islands 74.70 2000 census 39 Uzbekistan 74.30 NA 40 Spain 74.00 NA 41 Sri Lanka 74.00 NA 42 Vanuatu 72.60 1999 Census 43 Turkmenistan 72.00 NA 44 Georgia 71.00 NA 45 Equatorial Guinea 67.60 1994 census 46 Sint Maarten 67.50 2001 census 47 Estonia 67.30 2000 census 48 Ukraine 67.00 NA 49 Macedonia 66.50 2002 census 50 Aruba 66.30 2000 census 51 Kyrgyzstan 64.70 1999 census 52 Palau 64.70 2000 census 53 Kazakhstan 64.40 2001 est. 54 Switzerland 63.70 NA 55 Montenegro 63.60 2003 census 56 Belarus 62.80 1999 census 57 French Polynesia 61.10 2002 census 58 Bolivia 60.70 2001 census 59 Belgium 60.00 NA 60 Guatemala 60.00 NA 61 Wallis and Futuna 58.90 2003 census 62 Canada 58.80 2006 Census 63 Latvia 58.20 2000 census 64 Iran 58.00 NA 65 Malawi 57.20 1998 census 66 Afghanistan 50.00 NA 67 Pakistan 48.00 NA 68 Nepal 47.80 2001 est. 69 Belize 46.00 2000 census 70 India 41.00 2001 census 71 Belgium 40.00 NA 72 Guatemala 40.00 NA 73 Latvia 37.50 2000 census 74 Belarus 36.70 1999 census 75 Ghana 36.10 2000 census 76 Afghanistan 35.00 NA 77 Singapore 35.00 2000 census 78 Belize 32.90 2000 census 79 Ethiopia 32.70 1994 census 80 Equatorial Guinea 32.40 1994 census 81 Mozambique 32.00 1997 census 82 Namibia 32.00 NA 83 Ethiopia 31.60 1994 census 84 French Polynesia 31.40 2002 census 85 Wallis and Futuna 30.10 2003 census 86 Zambia 30.10 2000 Census 87 Estonia 29.70 2000 census 88 Mozambique 26.10 1997 census 89 Iran 26.00 NA 90 Macedonia 25.10 2002 census 91 Northern Mariana Islands 24.40 2000 census 92 Ukraine 24.00 NA 93 South Africa 23.80 2001 census 94 Northern Mariana Islands 23.40 2000 census 95 Vanuatu 23.10 1999 Census 96 Singapore 23.00 2000 census 97 Zambia 22.50 2000 Census 98 Northern Mariana Islands 22.40 2000 census 99 Montenegro 22.00 2003 census 100 Canada 21.60 2006 Census 101 Bolivia 21.20 2001 census 102 Switzerland 20.40 NA 103 Liberia 20.00 NA 104 Canada 19.60 2006 Census 105 Sri Lanka 18.00 NA 106 South Africa 17.60 2001 census 107 Spain 17.00 NA 108 Virgin Islands 16.80 2000 census 109 Ethiopia 14.80 1994 census 110 Ghana 14.80 2000 census 111 Bolivia 14.60 2001 census 112 Uzbekistan 14.20 NA 113 Singapore 14.10 2000 census 114 Kyrgyzstan 13.60 1999 census 115 Palau 13.50 2000 census 116 South Africa 13.30 2001 census 117 Peru 13.00 2007 Census 118 New Zealand 12.90 2006 Census 119 Sint Maarten 12.90 2001 census 120 Malawi 12.80 1998 census 121 Ghana 12.70 2000 census 122 Aruba 12.60 2000 census 123 Kyrgyzstan 12.50 1999 census 124 Mauritius 12.10 2000 census 125 Nepal 12.10 2001 est. 126 Pakistan 12.00 NA 127 Turkmenistan 12.00 NA 128 Singapore 11.40 2000 census 129 Mozambique 11.30 1997 census 130 Afghanistan 11.00 NA 131 Northern Mariana Islands 10.80 2000 census 132 Wallis and Futuna 10.80 2003 census 133 Slovakia 10.70 2001 census 134 Zambia 10.70 2000 Census 135 United States 10.70 NA 136 Zambia 10.60 2000 Census 137 Malawi 10.10 1998 census 138 Nepal 10.00 2001 est. 139 Pakistan 10.00 NA 140 Ghana 9.90 2000 census 141 Bulgaria 9.60 2001 census 142 Northern Mariana Islands 9.60 2000 census 143 Malawi 9.50 1998 census 144 Northern Mariana Islands 9.50 2000 census 145 Palau 9.40 2000 census 146 South Africa 9.40 2001 census 147 Georgia 9.00 NA 148 Ukraine 9.00 NA 149 Iran 9.00 NA 150 Turkmenistan 9.00 NA 151 Belize 8.90 2000 census 152 Mozambique 8.80 1997 census 153 Botswana 8.60 2001 census 154 Australia 8.20 2006 Census 155 South Africa 8.20 2001 census 156 South Africa 8.20 2001 census 157 Sint Maarten 8.20 2001 census 158 Kyrgyzstan 8.20 1999 census 159 India 8.10 2001 census 160 Curacao 8.00 2001 census 161 Lithuania 8.00 2001 census 162 Pakistan 8.00 NA 163 Pakistan 8.00 NA 164 Sri Lanka 8.00 NA 165 Pakistan 8.00 NA 166 Botswana 7.90 2001 census 167 South Africa 7.90 2001 census 168 Aruba 7.70 2000 census 169 Mozambique 7.60 1997 census 170 Nepal 7.40 2001 est. 171 India 7.20 2001 census 172 South Africa 7.20 2001 census 173 Uzbekistan 7.10 NA 174 Georgia 7.00 NA 175 India 7.00 2001 census 176 Spain 7.00 NA 177 Turkmenistan 7.00 NA 178 Namibia 7.00 NA 179 Georgia 7.00 NA 180 Mozambique 6.80 1997 census 181 Romania 6.70 NA 182 Virgin Islands 6.60 2000 census 183 Switzerland 6.50 NA 184 Hungary 6.40 2001 census 185 Ethiopia 6.10 1994 census 186 Ethiopia 6.00 1994 census 187 French Polynesia 6.00 2002 census 188 Malta 6.00 2005 census 189 Georgia 6.00 NA 190 India 5.90 2001 census 191 India 5.90 2001 census 192 Aruba 5.80 2000 census 193 Nepal 5.80 2001 est. 194 Mozambique 5.80 1997 census 195 Australia 5.70 2006 Census 196 Zambia 5.70 2000 Census 197 Singapore 5.70 2000 census 198 Palau 5.70 2000 census 199 Mexico 5.70 2005 200 Lithuania 5.60 2001 census 201 Finland 5.50 2007 202 Montenegro 5.50 2003 census 203 Aruba 5.30 2000 census 204 Austria 5.30 2001 census 205 Montenegro 5.30 2003 census 206 Nepal 5.10 2001 est. 207 India 5.00 2001 census 208 Seychelles 4.90 2002 census 209 Singapore 4.90 2000 census 210 Zambia 4.90 2000 Census 211 Ghana 4.60 2000 census 212 Jersey 4.60 2001 census 213 India 4.50 2001 census 214 Slovenia 4.50 2002 census 215 Hong Kong 4.40 2006 census 216 South Africa 4.40 2001 census 217 Lithuania 4.40 2001 census 218 Slovenia 4.40 2002 census 219 Uzbekistan 4.40 NA 220 Ghana 4.30 2000 census 221 Latvia 4.30 2000 census 222 Ghana 4.30 2000 census 223 Sint Maarten 4.20 2001 census 224 Bulgaria 4.10 2001 census 225 Serbia 4.10 NA 226 Afghanistan 4.00 NA 227 Macau 4.00 2001 census 228 Curacao 4.00 2001 census 229 Belize 3.90 2000 census 230 Curacao 3.90 2001 census 231 New Zealand 3.90 2006 Census 232 Serbia 3.80 NA 233 United States 3.80 NA 234 Ghana 3.70 2000 census 235 India 3.70 2001 census 236 Mauritius 3.70 2000 census 237 Montenegro 3.70 2003 census 238 Malawi 3.60 1998 census 239 Nepal 3.60 2001 est. 240 Ethiopia 3.50 1994 census 241 Sint Maarten 3.50 2001 census 242 Ethiopia 3.50 1994 census 243 Macedonia 3.50 2002 census 244 Belize 3.40 2000 census 245 Zambia 3.40 2000 Census 246 Mauritius 3.40 2000 census 247 Ghana 3.40 2000 census 248 Ghana 3.40 2000 census 249 Azerbaijan 3.30 1999 census 250 Finland 3.30 2007 251 Nepal 3.30 2001 est. 252 Belize 3.30 2000 census 253 Cayman Islands 3.20 1999 census 254 India 3.20 2001 census 255 Macau 3.20 2001 census 256 India 3.20 2001 census 257 Singapore 3.20 2000 census 258 Seychelles 3.10 2002 census 259 Malta 3.00 2005 census 260 Pakistan 3.00 NA 261 American Samoa 2.90 2000 census 262 Croatia 2.90 2001 census 263 Ghana 2.90 2000 census 264 Curacao 2.90 2001 census 265 Botswana 2.80 2001 census 266 Switzerland 2.80 NA 267 India 2.80 2001 census 268 Hong Kong 2.80 2006 census 269 Macau 2.70 2001 census 270 Malawi 2.70 1998 census 271 United States 2.70 NA 272 Slovakia 2.60 2001 census 273 Australia 2.50 2006 Census 274 Nepal 2.50 2001 est. 275 Zambia 2.50 2000 Census 276 American Samoa 2.40 2000 census 277 Nepal 2.40 2001 est. 278 Malawi 2.40 1998 census 279 Bolivia 2.40 2001 census 280 Austria 2.30 2001 census 281 Estonia 2.30 2000 census 282 Czech Republic 2.30 2001 census 283 Palau 2.30 2000 census 284 Aruba 2.20 2000 census 285 Zambia 2.20 2000 Census 286 Austria 2.20 2001 census 287 Poland 2.20 2002 census 288 Azerbaijan 2.20 1999 census 289 Sint Maarten 2.20 2001 census 290 American Samoa 2.10 2000 census 291 Botswana 2.10 2001 census 292 New Zealand 2.10 2006 Census 293 American Samoa 2.00 2000 census 294 Zambia 2.00 2000 Census 295 Zambia 2.00 2000 Census 296 Pakistan 2.00 NA 297 Iran 2.00 NA 298 Iran 2.00 NA 299 Czech Republic 2.00 2001 census 300 Macedonia 1.90 2002 census 301 Vanuatu 1.90 1999 Census 302 Virgin Islands 1.90 2000 census 303 Azerbaijan 1.80 1999 census 304 Marshall Islands 1.80 NA 305 Serbia 1.80 NA 306 Slovakia 1.80 2001 census 307 Singapore 1.80 2000 census 308 Bulgaria 1.80 2001 census 309 Cayman Islands 1.80 1999 census 310 Macedonia 1.80 2002 census 311 Ethiopia 1.70 1994 census 312 Peru 1.70 2007 Census 313 Malawi 1.70 1998 census 314 Zambia 1.70 2000 Census 315 Zambia 1.70 2000 Census 316 Nicaragua 1.70 NA 317 Australia 1.60 2006 Census 318 Macau 1.60 2001 census 319 Austria 1.60 2001 census 320 Azerbaijan 1.50 1999 census 321 Palau 1.50 2000 census 322 Palau 1.50 2000 census 323 Palau 1.50 2000 census 324 Macau 1.50 2001 census 325 Sint Maarten 1.50 2001 census 326 Switzerland 1.50 NA 327 Belize 1.40 2000 census 328 Vanuatu 1.40 1999 Census 329 Australia 1.30 2006 Census 330 India 1.30 2001 census 331 Switzerland 1.30 NA 332 Macau 1.30 2001 census 333 New Zealand 1.30 2006 Census 334 Mozambique 1.30 1997 census 335 Australia 1.20 2006 Census 336 Bolivia 1.20 2001 census 337 Switzerland 1.20 NA 338 Romania 1.20 NA 339 Macedonia 1.20 2002 census 340 India 1.20 2001 census 341 French Polynesia 1.20 2002 census 342 Hong Kong 1.10 2006 census 343 New Zealand 1.10 2006 Census 344 Switzerland 1.10 NA 345 Serbia 1.10 NA 346 Romania 1.10 NA 347 New Zealand 1.10 2006 Census 348 Armenia 1.00 2001 census 349 Australia 1.00 2006 Census 350 Iran 1.00 NA 351 Namibia 1.00 NA 352 Switzerland 1.00 NA 353 Slovakia 1.00 2001 census 354 Pakistan 1.00 NA 355 New Zealand 1.00 2006 Census 356 Kyrgyzstan 1.00 1999 census 357 Iran 1.00 NA 358 Iran 1.00 NA 359 Greece 1.00 NA 360 Croatia 1.00 2001 census 361 Azerbaijan 1.00 1999 census 362 Armenia 0.90 2001 census 363 Hong Kong 0.90 2006 census 364 Singapore 0.90 2000 census 365 Serbia 0.90 NA 366 Jersey 0.90 2001 census 367 Czech Republic 0.80 2001 census 368 Mexico 0.80 2005 369 Nicaragua 0.80 NA 370 Malta 0.80 2005 census 371 Estonia 0.70 2000 census 372 Vanuatu 0.70 1999 Census 373 United States 0.70 NA 374 Peru 0.70 2007 Census 375 Belarus 0.50 1999 census 376 Switzerland 0.50 NA 377 Armenia 0.40 2001 census 378 Botswana 0.40 2001 census 379 French Polynesia 0.30 2002 census 380 Vanuatu 0.30 1999 Census 381 Mozambique 0.30 1997 census 382 Peru 0.30 2007 Census 383 Mauritius 0.30 2000 census 384 Belize 0.20 2000 census 385 Peru 0.20 2007 Census 386 Wallis and Futuna 0.20 2003 census 387 Seychelles 0.20 2002 census
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Rank code: 2100
Country Comparison :: Legal system
This entry provides the description of a country's legal system; it also includes information on acceptance of International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction. The legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types: civil law (including French law, the Napoleonic Code, Roman law, Roman-Dutch law, and Spanish law); common law (including United State law); customary law; mixed or pluralistic law; and religious law (including Islamic law). An additional type of legal system - international law, which governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another - is also addressed below. The following list describes these legal systems, the countries or world regions where these systems are enforced, and a brief statement on the origins and major features of each. Civil Law - The most widespread type of legal system in the world, applied in various forms in approximately 150 countries. Also referred to as European continental law, the civil law system is derived mainly from the Roman Corpus Juris Civilus, (Body of Civil Law), a collection of laws and legal interpretations compiled under the East Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian I between A.D. 528 and 565. The major feature of civil law systems is that the laws are organized into systematic written codes. In civil law the sources recognized as authoritative are principally legislation - especially codifications in constitutions or statutes enacted by governments - and secondarily, custom. The civil law systems in some countries are based on more than one code. Common Law - A type of legal system, often synonymous with "English common law," which is the system of England and Wales in the UK, and is also in force in approximately 80 countries formerly part of or influenced by the former British Empire. English common law reflects Biblical influences as well as remnants of law systems imposed by early conquerors including the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans. Some legal scholars attribute the formation of the English common law system to King Henry II (r.1154-1189). Until the time of his reign, laws customary among England's various manorial and ecclesiastical (church) jurisdictions were administered locally. Henry II established the king's court and designated that laws were "common" to the entire English realm. The foundation of English common law is "legal precedent" - referred to as stare decisis, meaning "to stand by things decided." In the English common law system, court judges are bound in their decisions in large part by the rules and other doctrines developed - and supplemented over time - by the judges of earlier English courts. Customary Law - A type of legal system that serves as the basis of, or has influenced, the present-day laws in approximately 40 countries - mostly in Africa, but some in the Pacific islands, Europe, and the Near East. Customary law is also referred to as "primitive law," "unwritten law," "indigenous law," and "folk law." There is no single history of customary law such as that found in Roman civil law, English common law, Islamic law, or the Napoleonic Civil Code. The earliest systems of law in human society were customary, and usually developed in small agrarian and hunter-gatherer communities. As the term implies, customary law is based upon the customs of a community. Common attributes of customary legal systems are that they are seldom written down, they embody an organized set of rules regulating social relations, and they are agreed upon by members of the community. Although such law systems include sanctions for law infractions, resolution tends to be reconciliatory rather than punitive. A number of African states practiced customary law many centuries prior to colonial influences. Following colonization, such laws were written down and incorporated to varying extents into the legal systems imposed by their colonial powers. European Union Law - A sub-discipline of international law known as "supranational law" in which the rights of sovereign nations are limited in relation to one another. Also referred to as the Law of the European Union or Community Law, it is the unique and complex legal system that operates in tandem with the laws of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). Similar to federal states, the EU legal system ensures compliance from the member states because of the Union's decentralized political nature. The European Court of Justice (ECJ), established in 1952 by the Treaty of Paris, has been largely responsible for the development of EU law. Fundamental principles of European Union law include: subsidiarity - the notion that issues be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralized competent authority; proportionality - the EU may only act to the extent needed to achieve its objectives; conferral - the EU is a union of member states, and all its authorities are voluntarily granted by its members; legal certainty - requires that legal rules be clear and precise; and precautionary principle - a moral and political principle stating that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action. French Law - A type of civil law that is the legal system of France. The French system also serves as the basis for, or is mixed with, other legal systems in approximately 50 countries, notably in North Africa, the Near East, and the French territories and dependencies. French law is primarily codified or systematic written civil law. Prior to the French Revolution (1789-1799), France had no single national legal system. Laws in the northern areas of present-day France were mostly local customs based on privileges and exemptions granted by kings and feudal lords, while in the southern areas Roman law predominated. The introduction of the Napoleonic Civil Code during the reign of Napoleon I in the first decade of the 19th century brought major reforms to the French legal system, many of which remain part of France's current legal structure, though all have been extensively amended or redrafted to address a modern nation. French law distinguishes between "public law" and "private law." Public law relates to government, the French Constitution, public administration, and criminal law. Private law covers issues between private citizens or corporations. The most recent changes to the French legal system - introduced in the 1980s - were the decentralization laws, which transferred authority from centrally appointed government representatives to locally elected representatives of the people. International Law - The law of the international community, or the body of customary rules and treaty rules accepted as legally binding by states in their relations with each other. International law differs from other legal systems in that it primarily concerns sovereign political entities. There are three separate disciplines of international law: public international law, which governs the relationship between provinces and international entities and includes treaty law, law of the sea, international criminal law, and international humanitarian law; private international law, which addresses legal jurisdiction; and supranational law - a legal framework wherein countries are bound by regional agreements in which the laws of the member countries are held inapplicable when in conflict with supranational laws. At present the European Union is the only entity under a supranational legal system. The term "international law" was coined by Jeremy Bentham in 1780 in his Principles of Morals and Legislation, though laws governing relations between states have been recognized from very early times (many centuries B.C.). Modern international law developed alongside the emergence and growth of the European nation-states beginning in the early 16th century. Other factors that influenced the development of international law included the revival of legal studies, the growth of international trade, and the practice of exchanging emissaries and establishing legations. The sources of International law are set out in Article 38-1 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice within the UN Charter. Islamic Law - The most widespread type of religious law, it is the legal system enforced in over 30 countries, particularly in the Near East, but also in Central and South Asia, Africa, and Indonesia. In many countries Islamic law operates in tandem with a civil law system. Islamic law is embodied in the sharia, an Arabic word meaning "the right path." Sharia covers all aspects of public and private life and organizes them into five categories: obligatory, recommended, permitted, disliked, and forbidden. The primary sources of sharia law are the Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, and the Sunnah, the teachings of the Prophet and his works. In addition to these two primary sources, traditional Sunni Muslims recognize the consensus of Muhammad's companions and Islamic jurists on certain issues, called ijmas, and various forms of reasoning, including analogy by legal scholars, referred to as qiyas. Shia Muslims reject ijmas and qiyas as sources of sharia law. Mixed Law - Also referred to as pluralistic law, mixed law consists of elements of some or all of the other main types of legal systems - civil, common, customary, and religious. The mixed legal systems of a number of countries came about when colonial powers overlaid their own legal systems upon colonized regions but retained elements of the colonies' existing legal systems. Napoleonic Civil Code - A type of civil law, referred to as the Civil Code or Code Civil des Francais, forms part of the legal system of France, and underpins the legal systems of Bolivia, Egypt, Lebanon, Poland, and the US state of Louisiana. The Civil Code was established under Napoleon I, enacted in 1804, and officially designated the Code Napoleon in 1807. This legal system combined the Teutonic civil law tradition of the northern provinces of France with the Roman law tradition of the southern and eastern regions of the country. The Civil Code bears similarities in its arrangement to the Roman Body of Civil Law (see Civil Law above). As enacted in 1804, the Code addressed personal status, property, and the acquisition of property. Codes added over the following six years included civil procedures, commercial law, criminal law and procedures, and a penal code. Religious Law - A legal system which stems from the sacred texts of religious traditions and in most cases professes to cover all aspects of life as a seamless part of devotional obligations to a transcendent, imminent, or deep philosophical reality. Implied as the basis of religious law is the concept of unalterability, because the word of God cannot be amended or legislated against by judges or governments. However, a detailed legal system generally requires human elaboration. The main types of religious law are sharia in Islam, halakha in Judaism, and canon law in some Christian groups. Sharia is the most widespread religious legal system (see Islamic Law), and is the sole system of law for countries including Iran, the Maldives, and Saudi Arabia. No country is fully governed by halakha, but Jewish people may decide to settle disputes through Jewish courts and be bound by their rulings. Canon law is not a divine law as such because it is not found in revelation. It is viewed instead as human law inspired by the word of God and applying the demands of that revelation to the actual situation of the church. Canon law regulates the internal ordering of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. Roman Law - A type of civil law developed in ancient Rome and practiced from the time of the city's founding (traditionally 753 B.C.) until the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century A.D. Roman law remained the legal system of the Byzantine (Eastern Empire) until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Preserved fragments of the first legal text, known as the Law of the Twelve Tables, dating from the 5th century B.C., contained specific provisions designed to change the prevailing customary law. Early Roman law was drawn from custom and statutes; later, during the time of the empire, emperors asserted their authority as the ultimate source of law. The basis for Roman laws was the idea that the exact form - not the intention - of words or of actions produced legal consequences. It was only in the late 6th century A.D. that a comprehensive Roman code of laws was published (see Civil Law above). Roman law served as the basis of law systems developed in a number of continental European countries. Roman-Dutch Law - A type of civil law based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands. Roman-Dutch law serves as the basis for legal systems in seven African countries, as well as Guyana, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. This law system, which originated in the province of Holland and expanded throughout the Netherlands (to be replaced by the French Civil Code in 1809), was instituted in a number of sub-Saharan African countries during the Dutch colonial period. The Dutch jurist/philosopher Hugo Grotius was the first to attempt to reduce Roman-Dutch civil law into a system in his Jurisprudence of Holland (written 1619-20, commentary published 1621). The Dutch historian/lawyer Simon van Leeuwen coined the term "Roman-Dutch law" in 1652. Spanish Law - A type of civil law, often referred to as the Spanish Civil Code, it is the present legal system of Spain and is the basis of legal systems in 12 countries mostly in Central and South America, but also in southwestern Europe, northern and western Africa, and southeastern Asia. The Spanish Civil Code reflects a complex mixture of customary, Roman, Napoleonic, local, and modern codified law. The laws of the Visigoth invaders of Spain in the 5th to 7th centuries had the earliest major influence on Spanish legal system development. The Christian Reconquest of Spain in the 11th through 15th centuries witnessed the development of customary law, which combined canon (religious) and Roman law. During several centuries of Hapsburg and Bourbon rule, systematic recompilations of the existing national legal system were attempted, but these often conflicted with local and regional customary civil laws. Legal system development for most of the 19th century concentrated on formulating a national civil law system, which was finally enacted in 1889 as the Spanish Civil Code. Several sections of the code have been revised, the most recent of which are the penal code in 1989 and the judiciary code in 2001. The Spanish Civil Code separates public and private law. Public law includes constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law, process law, financial and tax law, and international public law. Private law includes civil law, commercial law, labor law, and international private law. United States Law - A type of common law, which is the basis of the legal system of the United States and that of its island possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific. This legal system has several layers, more possibly than in most other countries, and is due in part to the division between federal and state law. The United States was founded not as one nation but as a union of 13 colonies, each claiming independence from the British Crown. The US Constitution, implemented in 1789, began shifting power away from the states and toward the federal government, though the states today retain substantial legal authority. US law draws its authority from four sources: constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations, and case law. Constitutional law is based on the US Constitution and serves as the supreme federal law. Taken together with those of the state constitutions, these documents outline the general structure of the federal and state governments and provide the rules and limits of power. US statutory law is legislation enacted by the US Congress and is codified in the United States Code. The 50 state legislatures have similar authority to enact state statutes. Administrative law is the authority delegated to federal and state executive agencies. Case law, also referred to as common law, covers areas where constitutional or statutory law is lacking. Case law is a collection of judicial decisions, customs, and general principles that began in England centuries ago, that were adopted in America at the time of the Revolution, and that continue to develop today.