The official language of Georgia is Georgian, which is written using Mkhedruli script. Georgian is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the native or primary language of 87.6% of Georgias population, and its speakers today amount to approximately four million. Georgian is a language that is richly steeped in history and cultural significance, and it is written in its own unique alphabet. Most Georgians also speak Russian, which was the lingua franca of all fifteen Soviet republics. Outside of government settings, most signage will be written in Mkhedruli script, followed by Cyrillic and then a transcription in Latin script underneath that.