Are you thinking about learning a new language? You might want to consider Spanish! Why, you ask? Its popularity is on the rise and you can find it spoken in a ton of places. Read on to see the numbers!
Where is Spanish spoken?
Spanish is the official language of 20 countries spread over four continents: North America, South America, Europe (Spain), and Africa (Equatorial Guinea), plus Puerto Rico which is a territory of the United States. The language isn’t limited to just these countries. Spanish is the nonofficial second language of countries like the United States, Brazil and the Philippines. It is also widely spoken in Morocco, Algeria, Belize, Israel, Switzerland, Australia and Canada.
How many people speak Spanish?
According to the Cervantes Institute annual report from 2017, there are more than 572 million Spanish speakers in the world (7.8% of the world’s population). Of these 572 million, 477 million are native speakers, 73.7 million have a limited mastery of the language and another 21.2 million are studying it as a foreign language. These numbers make Spanish the second most spoken native language after Mandarin. The Cervantes Institute has also predicted that by 2050, the number of worldwide speakers will have increased to 754 million.
Top 5 countries with the most Spanish Speakers
Mexico – 123.5 million
The United States – 57.9 million
Colombia – 49.2 million
Spain – 46.5 million
Argentina – 44 million
The numbers include the combination of both native speakers and non-native speaker. As you can see, the U.S. is second just after Mexico, and Spanish isn’t even its official language!
Spanish on the Internet
Spanish is the third-most used language on the internet, after English and Chinese. While the language is number three on the internet overall, when it comes to social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, Spanish is number two.
Spanish in the Arts
Because of the larger number of Spanish speakers across the globe, there is a rich cultural and artistic history to discover. There are countless songs, films, poems and books featuring the language. Spanish is the fourth language with the most Nobel prizes in literature, after English, French and German.
Can you now see the importance of the Spanish language? If you’re interested in learning in the heart of Barcelona, check out our courses and give us a call!
Posted in Learn Spanish
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