Spanish Language Distribution Around the World

Spanish Language Distribution

The Spanish language, also known as Español or Castilian, is a Romance language that originated from various Latin dialects in the central and northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula during the 8th century. It gradually expanded as the Kingdom of Castile (northern Spain) extended its empire to the central and southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages.

The Spanish Empire's expansion from the 15th century onwards led to the spread of the Spanish language worldwide, primarily to Spanish colonies and territories influenced directly or indirectly by them. Today, the Spanish language is spoken virtually throughout Latin America, with exceptions in countries like Brazil (colonized by Portugal), Suriname (colonized by the Netherlands), Guyana (colonized by Britain), French Guiana (colonized by France), and the Caribbean islands except for Puerto Rico and Cuba. Additionally, Spanish has a significant presence in the United States due to Latin American immigration. In other continents, Spanish is the official language in Equatorial Guinea in Africa and is used by some individuals in the Philippines in Asia.

Approximately 400 million people have Spanish as their native language, making it the second-largest native language in the world after Mandarin Chinese. Furthermore, an estimated 100 million people speak Spanish as a second language, making Spanish the third most spoken language globally after English and Mandarin Chinese.