Fiji has three official languages: English, Fijian, and Fiji Hindi. Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken by most indigenous Fijians, who make up around 54% of the population. Indo-Fijians, who make up a further 37% of the population, mainly speak a local variant of Hindi, known as Fiji Hindi. English was the sole official language until 1997 and is widely used in government, business, and education as a lingua franca. Considerable business is also done in Fijian, especially away from larger town centers. A small number of other Indigenous West Fijian and East Fijian regional languages are spoken on the islands, standard Fijian belonging to the East Fijian group. Arabic and Urdu are spoken by Muslims. Chinese and Rotuman are also spoken by immigrant populations.