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Spanish is the majority language in 21 sovereign states and several dependent territories, totaling around 440 million people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eldiae.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/El-espa%C3%B1ol-lengua-viva-2014.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-08-31 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903092938/http://eldiae.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/El-espa%C3%B1ol-lengua-viva-2014.pdf |archivedate=3 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It is additionally the main official language in Equatorial Guinea.
Spanish is the majority language in 21 sovereign states and several dependent territories, totaling around 440 million people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eldiae.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/El-espa%C3%B1ol-lengua-viva-2014.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-08-31 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903092938/http://eldiae.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/El-espa%C3%B1ol-lengua-viva-2014.pdf |archivedate=3 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It is additionally the main official language in Equatorial Guinea.


In these countries and territories, Spanish is the main or mostly used language of communication of the vast majority of the population; official documents are written chiefly or solely in that language; and it is taught in schools and utilized as the primary medium of instruction as part of the official curriculum.
In these countries and territories, Spanish is the main or mostly used language of communication of the vast majority of the population; official documents are written chiefly or solely in that language; and it is taught in schools and utilized as the primary medium of instruction as part of the official curriculum. Wakanda forever


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Revision as of 12:09, 12 April 2018

Countries and territories where the Spanish language holds official status.

The following is a list of countries where Spanish is an official language, plus a number of countries where Spanish, or any language closely related to it, is an important or significant language.

Official or national language

Spanish is the majority language in 21 sovereign states and several dependent territories, totaling around 440 million people.[1] It is additionally the main official language in Equatorial Guinea.

In these countries and territories, Spanish is the main or mostly used language of communication of the vast majority of the population; official documents are written chiefly or solely in that language; and it is taught in schools and utilized as the primary medium of instruction as part of the official curriculum. Wakanda forever

Country/Territory Status Population
(2014)[2] 		Regulatory body More information
 Mexico De facto[3] 120,286,655 Academia Mexicana de la Lengua Mexican Spanish
 Colombia De jure[4] 48,400,388 Academia Colombiana de la Lengua Colombian Spanish
 Spaina De jure[5] 47,737,941 Real Academia Española Peninsular Spanish
 Argentina De facto[6] 43,024,374 Academia Argentina de Letras Rioplatense Spanish
 Perub De jure[7] 30,147,935 Academia Peruana de la Lengua Peruvian Coast Spanish
 Venezuela De jure[8] 28,868,486 Academia Venezolana de la Lengua Venezuelan Spanish
 Chile De facto[9] 17,363,894 Academia Chilena de la Lengua Chilean Spanish
 Ecuadorc De jure[10] 15,654,411 Academia Ecuatoriana de la Lengua Ecuadorian Spanish
 Guatemala De jure[11] 14,647,083 Academia Guatemalteca de la Lengua Guatemalan Spanish
 Cuba De jure[12] 11,047,251 Academia Cubana de la Lengua Cuban Spanish
 Boliviad De jure[13] 10,631,486 Academia Boliviana de la Lengua Bolivian Spanish
 Dominican Republic De jure[14] 10,349,741 Academia Dominicana de la Lengua Dominican Spanish
Honduras Honduras De jure[15] 8,598,561 Academia Hondureña de la Lengua Honduran Spanish
 Paraguaye De jure[16] 6,703,860 Academia Paraguaya de la Lengua Española Paraguayan Spanish
 El Salvador De jure[17] 6,125,512 Academia Salvadoreña de la Lengua Salvadoran Spanish
 Nicaragua De facto[18] 5,848,641 Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua Nicaraguan Spanish
 Costa Rica De jure[19] 4,755,234 Academia Costarricense de la Lengua Costa Rican Spanish
 Puerto Ricof De jure[20] 3,620,897 Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española Puerto Rican Spanish
 Panama De jure[21] 3,608,431 Academia Panameña de la Lengua Panamanian Spanish
 Uruguay De facto[22] 3,332,972 Academia Nacional de Letras Uruguayan Spanish
 Equatorial Guineag De jure[23] 1,722,254 Academia Ecuatoguineana de la Lengua Española Equatoguinean Spanish
Total 442,476,007 Association of Spanish Language Academies

a In Spain, Spanish is the sole official language at the national level, while the languages of Basque, Catalan/Valencian, and Galician are co-official alongside Spanish in certain regions.

b In Peru, Spanish is the sole official language at the national level while Quechua and Aymara hold co-official status in selected regions.

c In Ecuador, Spanish is the sole official language at the national level while the Kichwa (Northern Quechua) and Shuar languages hold co-official status in selected regions.

d In Bolivia, the national constitution recognizes Spanish and various indigenous languages of Bolivia as official at the national level, though Spanish is predominant nationwide.

e In Paraguay, Spanish and the indigenous Guaraní are recognized as co-official at the national level and both are widely used in society.

f Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S. where Spanish and English are the official languages and Spanish is the primary language.[20]

g In Equatorial Guinea, the Spanish, French, and Portuguese languages all hold official status at the national level, though Spanish is the primary language in the public sphere while Fang, Bube, Kombe, and other Bantu languages, as well as an English-based creole, are used at home and family settings. See Equatorial Guinea#Languages.

Population of the Spanish speaking countries (+ Puerto Rico) in 2011

Significant minority language

Though not an official language at the national level, Spanish is regularly spoken by significant minority populations in each of the nations and territories noted below. In each, public services and information are widely available in Spanish, as are various forms of printed and broadcast media.

Country Population
(2014)[2] 		Total speakers Percentage Spanish-speaking
 Andorra 85,458 29,907 35%
 Belize 340,844 106,795 30%
 Gibraltar 29,185 23,857 81%
 United States of America 318,892,103 52,000,000 23%

Andorra

See also: Languages of Andorra

The Spanish language is not official but also holds a special status (in the education system, the media, and some official documents) in the Principality of Andorra which share land borders with Spain.[24]

Belize

See also: Languages of Belize

Spanish has no official recognition in the Central American nation of Belize, a Commonwealth realm where English is the official national language. However, the country shares land borders with Spanish-speaking Mexico and Guatemala and, per the 2010 Belizean census, Spanish is spoken by a sizable portion of the population; 30% claim Spanish as a mother tongue and about 50% of the population has working knowledge of the language.[25]

Gibraltar

See also: Languages of Gibraltar

The Spanish language is not official but also holds a special status (in the education system, the media, and some official documents) in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, which share land borders with Spain.[26]

United States

Main article: Spanish language in the United States

Spanish has been spoken in the United States for several centuries in the Southwest and Florida, which were all once part of New Spain. However, today only a tiny minority of Spanish speakers in the US trace their language back to those times; the overwhelming majority of speakers come from recent immigration. Only in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado has Spanish maintained speaking communities uninterruptedly since colonial times. [27] Spanish is the most studied foreign language in United States schools and is spoken as a native tongue by 41 million people, plus an additional 11 million fluent second-language speakers.[28] Though not official, Spanish has a special status for education in the U.S. state of New Mexico. [29] 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.[30] Spanish is increasingly used alongside English nationwide in business and politics. In the United States, the language is regulated by the North American Academy of the Spanish Language.

Historical language

Philippines

Main article: Spanish language in the Philippines
See also: Philippine Spanish

Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of the Hispanic period in 1565 and through independence until a constitutional change in 1973. However, President Ferdinand Marcos had Spanish redesigned as an official language under Presidential Decree No. 156, dated 15 March 1973 and Spanish remained official until 1987, when it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language.[31]

On 8 August 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the Philippine government asked help from the Spanish Government in her plan to reintroduce Spanish as a required subject in the Philippine school system.[32] By 2012, the language was a compulsory subject at only a very select number of secondary schools.[33] In spite of government promotion of Spanish, less than 0.5% of the population are able to speak Spanish at least proficiently.[34]

While Spanish is designated as an optional government language in the Philippines, its usage is very limited and not present in everyday life.[35] In the country, Spanish is regulated by the Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language.

Western Sahara

Spanish is a secondary official language, alongside Arabic, in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a former Spanish colony and now a partially recognized state, most of whose territory is occupied by Morocco. Spanish is not a native language in that country.[36][37]

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands

Spanish was spoken in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands until the United States took control of the island from Spanish in 1898. The indigenous language, Chamorro, still exhibits a strong Hispanic heritage, so much so that some people consider it a mixed Hispano-Austronesian language. [38]There is also much evidence of enduring Spanish culture and residual Spanish in the sense of people being able to sing songs in Spanish or use basic phrases in Spanish when speaking Chamorro.

Creole languages

Main article: Spanish-based creole languages

There are a number of Spanish-based creole languages. Chavacano is spoken in Zamboanga City in the Philippines and is a regional language.[39] Papiamento is the official language in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao; it has been classified as either a Spanish-based or a Portuguese-based creole.[40][41]

Chamorro is an Austronesian language with many Spanish loanwords; some scholars have considered it a creole, but the most authoritative sources deny this. [42]

Country Creole language Estimated speakers[43] Year Status
 Aruba Papiamento ~100,000[44] — Official.[45]
 Caribbean Netherlands Papiamento – – Official.[46]
 Curaçao Papiamento 185,155[47] 1981 Official.[48]
 Philippines Chavacano 689,000[47] 1992 Regional.[39]

Judeo-Spanish

Main article: Judaeo-Spanish

Judaeo-Spanish (sometimes known as Ladino or other names) is a language derived from medieval Spanish; it is still spoken by some Sephardi Jews, mainly in Israel.[49]

International organizations

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ a b "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  3. ^ Mexico does not have an official language at the federal level [1]; however, Spanish is spoken by the majority.
  4. ^ Constitution of Colombia, Art. 10
  5. ^ Spanish Constitution, Art. 3-1
  6. ^ The Argentine Constitution does not establish Spanish as an official language.
  7. ^ Constitution of Peru, Art. 48
  8. ^ Constitution of Venezuela, Art. 9
  9. ^ 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), Chile Library of Congress.)
  10. ^ Constitution of Ecuador, Art. 2
  11. ^ Constitution of Guatemala, Art. 143
  12. ^ Constitution of Cuba Archived 2 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Art. 2
  13. ^ Constitution of Bolivia, Art. 5
  14. ^ The Constitution of the Dominican Republic establish Spanish as it official language.
  15. ^ Constitution of Honduras, Art. 6
  16. ^ Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 140
  17. ^ Constitution of El Salvador, Art. 62
  18. ^ The Constitution of Nicaragua does not establish Spanish as an official language.
  19. ^ Constitution of Costa Rica, Art. 76
  20. ^ a b Constitution of Puerto Rico Archived 19 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine, 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.
  21. ^ Constitution of Panama, Art. 7
  22. ^ The Constitution of Uruguay does not establish Spanish as an official language.
  23. ^ Constitution of Equatorial Guinea Archived 1 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Art. 4
  24. ^ "Observatori de l'Institut d'Estudis Andorrans" (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Statistical Institute of Belize: Belize Population and Housing Census 2010. Country Report. Belmopan 2013.
  26. ^ <Constitution of Gibraltar Archived 21 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Canfield, Delos Lincoln (1981). Spanish Pronunciation in the Americas. The University of Chicago Press. p. 80. The main nuclei of Spanish speech in the United States are northern New Mexico / southern Colorado, the border territories from California through Texas, the Florida peninsula, New York City, and other large cities of the Northeast and Midwest. Only one of these, the New Mexico / Colorado dialect area, has maintained linguistic continuity since colonial days, and its speech goes back to about 1600.
  28. ^ "US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain". theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  29. ^ Language Rights and New Mexico Statehood By the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
  30. ^ "Más 'speak spanish' que en España". Retrieved 6 October 2007. (Spanish)
  31. ^ Article XIV, Sec 7: For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English. The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein. Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.
  32. ^ "La presidenta filipina pedirá ayuda a España para oficializar el español" (in Spanish). MSN Noticias. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ Legaspi, Amita O. (3 July 2012). "PNoy (President Benigno Aquino III) and Spain's Queen Sofia welcome return of Spanish language in Philippine schools". GMA News.
  34. ^ Medium projection, Philippine Statistics Authority, 2010, archived from the original on 11 August 2011 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ Constitution of the Philippines, Art. 14
  36. ^ "Como saharauis queremos conservar el español". Lavozdegalicia.es. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  37. ^ "EL ESPAñOL EN LOS CAMPAMENTOS DE REFUGIADOS SAHARAUIS (TINDUF, ARGELIA)" (PDF). Cvc.cervantes.es. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  38. ^ {{cite web|url=http://eprints.ucm.es/3664/ |title=El elemento español en la lengua chamorra' |Madrid: Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad Complutense
  39. ^ a b DepEd adds 7 languages to mother tongue-based education for Kinder to Grade 3. GMA News. July 13, 2013.
  40. ^ Attila Narin (June 1998). "Papiamentu Facts". Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  41. ^ Dalby, Andrew (1998). Dictionary of Languages. Bloomsbury Publishing plc. p. 489. ISBN 0-7475-3117-X.
  42. ^ Topping, Donald (1973). Chamorro Reference Grammar. University Press of Hawaii. pp. 6 and 7. ISBN 978-0-8248-0269-1.
  43. ^ "Ethnologue". Retrieved 13 June 2008.
  44. ^ "Language" - Government of Aruba (official site) - 2010
  45. ^ Migge, Bettina; Léglise, Isabelle; Bartens, Angela (2010). Creoles in Education: An Appraisal of Current Programs and Projects. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 268. ISBN 978-90-272-5258-6.
  46. ^ "Tijdelijke wet officiële talen BES" (in Dutch). wetten.nl. Retrieved 24 October 2010. Artikel 2: De officiële talen zijn het Engels, het Nederlands en het Papiamento. (English: Article 2: The official languages are English, Dutch and Papiamento)
  47. ^ a b Número de hispanohablantes en países y territorios donde el español no es lengua oficial Archived 29 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Instituto Cervantes.
  48. ^ "Nieuwsbrief 070313 – Papiaments officieel erkend". Nieuws.leidenuniv.nl. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  49. ^ EJP | News | Western Europe | Judaeo-Spanish language revived Archived 29 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Ejpress.org (19 September 2005). Retrieved on 19 October 2011.

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