If a system supports Unicode, then wchar_t must be at least 21 bits, according to the C and C++ standards. Of course the 900lb gorilla has a 16-bit wchar_t, but

If a system supports Unicode, then wchar_t must be at least 21 bits, according to the C and C++ standards. Of course the 900lb gorilla has a 16-bit wchar_t, but the standards committees prefer to stick their fingers in their ears rather than deprecate it.