List of countries where Spanish is an official language
The following is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories where Spanish is an official language, the national language or the de facto official language.
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[edit] € as official or national language
Spanish is an official language in 34 sovereign states and one dependent entity, totalling around 423 million people.
[edit] De jure official and national languageSovereign states where Spanish is a de jure official language.
Dependent entities where Spanish is a de jure official language.
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[edit] De facto official and national languageSovereign states where Spanish is a de facto official language. That is, it is the main or only language of communication of the vast majority of the population; official documents are written chiefly or solely in that language; and it is spoken and taught in schools; yet, it is not established by legislation as an official language.
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a Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S. where Spanish and English are the official languages[17] and Spanish is the primary language.
[edit] Former official language
Spanish was removed as an official language of the Philippines in 1973 and was removed from being a compulsory subject in 1987; on 8 August 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the Philippine government asked help from the Spanish Government in her plan to reintroduce the Spanish as a required subject in the Philippine school system.[23] The Constitution of the Philippines states that "Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis" and that the Constitution itself will be translated into Spanish.[24] It is estimated that in 1996 there were 1,816,389 Spanish speakers in the Philippines.[25]
[edit] Commonly used language
Spanish language is not official but holds a special status in several countries (in the education system, the media, and some official documents): Andorra, Gibraltar[26] and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.[citation needed] Spanish is used for international commerce in Brazil due to being surrounded mostly by Spanish-speaking countries and Spanish is widely taught as a foreign language.
Additionally, Spanish is by far the most studied foreign language in the United States and many important public documents are published in both English and Spanish.[27] Spanish is also de facto official in the U.S. state of New Mexico along with English and is increasingly used alongside English nationwide in business and politics.[28] With over 50 million native speakers and second language speakers, the United States now has the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico.[29]
[edit] Spanish-based creole language
The Spanish-based creole language of Papiamentoa is official in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.[citation needed] Chavacano is spoken in the Philippines, and Palenquero is spoken in Colombia but are not official.
| Country | Creole language | Estimated speakers[30] | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Philippines |
Chavacano | 689,000[25] | 1992 | Regional.[citation needed] |
 Bonaire and  Curaçao |
Papiamento | 185,155[25] | 1981 | Official.[citation needed] |
 Aruba |
Papiamento | 60,000[citation needed] | N/A | Official.[citation needed] |
 Colombia |
Palenquero | 500[citation needed] | N/A | Not official.[3] |
a Papiamento is considered both a Spanish- and Portuguese-based creole language.[31][32]
== International organizations where Spanish is official == China
[edit] Map of Spanish-Language status
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
- ^ Spanish Constitution, Art. 3-1
- ^ a b Constitution of Colombia, Art. 10
- ^ Constitution of Peru, Art. 48
- ^ Constitution of Venezuela, Art. 9
- ^ Constitution of Ecuador, Art. 2
- ^ Constitution of Guatemala, Art. 143
- ^ Constitution of Cuba, Art. 2
- ^ Constitution of Bolivia, Art. 5
- ^ The Constitution of the Dominican Republic Art. 29
- ^ Constitution of Honduras, Art. 6
- ^ Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 140
- ^ Constitution of El Salvador, Art. 62
- ^ Constitution of Costa Rica, Art. 76
- ^ Constitution of Panama, Art. 7
- ^ Constitution of Equatorial Guinea, Art. 4
- ^ a b Constitution of Puerto Rico, Art. 3, Section 5: It is mandatory to be able to read and write in either English or Spanish in order to be a member of the Legislative Assembly.
- ^ Mexico does not have an official language at the federal level [1]; however, Spanish is the national language and spoken by the majority.[citation needed]
- ^ The Argentine Constitution does not establish Spanish as an official language.
- ^ The Constitution of Chile does not establish Spanish as an official language. However, Chilean legislation establishes that schools must teach students to communicate in the "Castilian language" (General Law on Education (Articles 29 and 30), Library of Chilean Congress.)
- ^ The Constitution of Nicaragua does not establish Spanish as an official language.
- ^ The Constitution of Uruguay does not establish Spanish as an official language.
- ^ "La presidenta filipina pedirá ayuda a España para oficializar el español" (in Spanish). MSN Noticias. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20071026143031/http://latino.msn.com/noticias/articles/ArticlePage.aspx?cp-documentid=5259791. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
- ^ Constitution of the Philippines, Article XIV, Sections 7–8.
- ^ a b c Número de hispanohablantes en países y territorios donde el español no es lengua oficial, Instituto Cervantes.
- ^ Constitution of Gibraltar
- ^ "Language Rights and New Mexico Statehood", The Excluded Student: Educational Practices Affecting Mexican Americans in the Southwest, Mexican American Education Study, Report III, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972, pp. 76–82[dead link]
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Más 'speak spanish' que en España". http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/speak/spanish/Espana/elpepucul/20081006elpepicul_1/Tes. Retrieved 2007-10-06. (Spanish)
- ^ "Ethnologue". http://www.ethnologue.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ Attila Narin (June 1998). "Papiamentu Facts". http://www.narin.com/papiamentu/origins.html. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages. Bloomsbury Publishing plc. pp. 489. ISBN 0-7475-3117-X.
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