De facto
De facto (/deɪ ˈfæktoʊ, di -, də -/ day FAK-toh, dee -, də -,[1] Latin: [deː ˈfaktoː] ; lit. 'in fact') describes practices that exist in reality, regardless of whether they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms.[2][3] It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with de jure ("by law").
"In practice" redirects here. For the publication, see In Practice.Government and culture[edit]
National languages[edit]
Several countries, including Australia, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, have a de facto national language but no official, de jure national language.
Some countries have a de facto national language in addition to an official language. In Lebanon and Morocco, Arabic is an official language (in addition to Tamazight in the case of Morocco), but an additional de facto language is also French. In New Zealand, the official languages are Māori and New Zealand Sign Language; however, English is a third de facto language.
Russian was the de facto official language of the central government and, to a large extent, republican governments of the former Soviet Union, but was not declared de jure state language until 1990. A short-lived law, effected April 24, 1990, installed Russian as the sole de jure official language of the Union prior to its dissolution in 1991.[16]
In Hong Kong and Macau, the special administrative regions of China, the official languages are English and Portuguese respectively, together with Chinese. However, no particular variety of "Chinese" referred to in law is specified. Cantonese (Hong Kong Cantonese) in traditional Chinese characters is the de facto standard in both territories.[17]
De facto state of war[edit]
Most commonly used to describe large scale conflicts of the 20th century, the phrase de facto state of war refers to a situation where two nations are actively engaging, or are engaged, in aggressive military actions against the other without a formal declaration of war.
Business[edit]
Monopoly[edit]
A de facto monopoly is a system where many suppliers of a product are allowed but the market is so completely dominated by one that the other players are unable to compete or even survive. The related terms oligopoly and monopsony are similar in meaning and this is the type of situation that antitrust laws are intended to eliminate.
Finance[edit]
In finance, the World Bank has a pertinent definition: