Want to know how many people in the world speak Spanish? Want to know what countries have Spanish as an official language? Our guide to the World Spanish speaking population gives you the information & facts you want to know.
Spanish is the world’s 2nd fastest growing language. According to an estimate, at the moment more than 400 million of the world’s population can speak Spanish fluently. Spanish ranks fourth in the world in terms of speakers from around the world. The UN estimates that the Spanish speaking population of the world will increase by 103% between 1984 and 2040.
Officially there are 21 countries around the world whose general population is able to speak Spanish however some resources say that the number is 23. Spanish also goes by the name of Castilian which is a Romance Language. Spanish originated from the northern areas of Spain and inherited most of its words from Latin. From the north, the Spanish reached the Kingdom of Castile. Here the general population slowly started speaking this new language and it gained popularity to first slowly become the government language and then the preferred language of trade. Later on it spread across the world when different areas fell under Spanish colonial rule. The importance of the Spanish language can also be deducted from the fact that the United Nations has deemed it to be one of the six official languages.
The world of Spanish Speakers
Spanish has gained great popularity among the population of different countries from around the world. This is backed up by the fact that it is one of the official languages of each of the following organizations.
1. The European Union
2. The Organization of Ibero-American States
3. The Organization of American States
4. The Union of South American Nations
5. United Nations
Here are a few countries of the world where the general population likes to speak Spanish more then any other language.
Europe
Spanish originated from Spain and is thus the official language of this country. Other countries where the population widely speaks Spanish include Gibraltar and Andorra.
America
Although most of the Spanish speaking population in America is based in Latin America, Mexico has the largest Spanish speaking population of the world to its credit after Spain. Other countries of America where Spanish is the official language include Argentina, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador,Mexico, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Philippines
Spanish had been the official language of this Asian country until the 20th century. However, it was not spoken much by the population and with the introduction of US administration and its occupation it lost its importance completely.
Africa
The UN-recognized and Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea has given Spanish the status of being the official language in the country. This region has got a significant Spanish speaking population to its name.
Oceania
According to the census of 2001, 95,000 of the world’s total Spanish Speaking population resides in Australia.
