The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during th: The countries where English is spoken can be grouped into different categories according to how English is used in each country. The "inner circle"[69] countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms for English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world.