Here’s a look at nine countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific where English is the language of power, policy and everyday life. A country built by freed African-American slaves, Liberia was modeled after the United States in everything from government structure to language.

US President Donald Trump had just finished nodding through a flurry of translated praises from African leaders when he turned to Liberian President Joseph Boakai with a question that caught the room off guard.