Spanish is a fairly common language and ranks third among other languages. This language is spoken in more than 20 countries around the world. You can hear Spanish spoken in more than 58 countries.

Spanish is one of the top three most popular languages ​​in the world. More than twenty countries around the world speak Spanish. There are countries where the language is the official language. The most Spanish-speaking countries are Argentina and Mexico. Next come the following countries:

Colombia

Venezuela

Guatemala

Honduras

Salvador

Paraguay

Costa Rica

Philippines

Portugal

United Kingdom

Spanish is the third most widely spoken language in the world, after Chinese and English, of course, and is the second most widely spoken language. (this is approximately 700 million).

In South America:

In Central America:

In the Caribbean and North America:

In Europe:

In Africa:

Spanish is considered the second most widely spoken language (after Chinese). According to various estimates, about 500 million people speak it, including those for whom Spanish is a second language.

Spanish is spoken in

Mexico (Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world),

Argentina,

Colombia,

Venezuela,

Ecuador,

Dominican Republic,

Guatemala,

Honduras,

Nicaragua,

Salvador,

Paraguay,

Equatorial Guinea,

Puerto Rico.

In the USA they speak Spanish. And in the state of New Mexico, Spanish actually has official status, since in official documents it is possible to use Spanish along with English.

Around the world, 450,500 million people speak Spanish. It has official status: in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea.

It is considered regional in the Philippines, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and some US states.

Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, USA, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Portugal, Philippines, Morocco, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Belize, Dominican Republic.

List of Spanish speaking countries in 2015:

Spanish is the second most widely spoken native language in the world (just behind Chinese) and has 470 million native speakers. According to various expert estimates, up to 548 million people around the world today can speak Spanish fluently.

Spanish is considered the most widely spoken language in the world after English. It is spoken by more than 500 million people in America, Europe and Africa. In many countries, Spanish is the official language.



Number of Hispanics



Spanish turns out to be one of the most common languages. It is spoken in twenty countries around the world. Mexico and Spain speak Spanish, to name a few. Here is a list of countries where you will hear Spanish spoken.

Spanish is the official (state) language in the following countries:

• Spain
• Mexico
• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Venezuela
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Dominican Republic
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Salvador
• Uruguay
• Ecuador
• Equatorial Guinea

Spanish is used as a regional or local language in the following countries:

• Philippines
• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (partially recognized state)
• US states of New Mexico and Puerto Rico

Spanish is the native language of approximately 400 million people in the world and another 50-100 million people speak it as a second language.

Thanks to Spain's active colonial past, Spanish is now the official language in many countries. Therefore, after studying it, you can safely pack your things and go traveling to Mexico, Spain, Panama, Venezuela, Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Chile, El Salvador and Equatorial Guinea. Spanish is also used locally in the USA and the Philippines.

20 countries around the world speak Spanish. This is Spain and all of South America, with the exception of Brazil. The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. it is a former colony of Portugal.

Spain itself has four official languages: Spanish, Catalan Basque and Galician.

As for Latin American countries that speak Spanish, these are:

Argentina

Paraguay

Venezuela

Colombia

Salvador

Dominican Republic

Honduras

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Puerto Rico

And also part of the United States of America.

Spanish is also partially spoken in the Philippines, Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea.

Learn Spanish. I found it useful.

The community of Spanish-speaking countries is called Espanidad, which can literally be translated as Spanish Studies.

Naturally, each region has its own dialect. However, native Spanish speakers and Spanish linguists understand each other well, despite some phonetic and lexical differences.

This country attracts a huge number of tourists every year. Why do people like Spain? There the bright sun always shines and a pleasant wind blows. Travelers can go to pristine beaches and swim in turquoise water. There is very tasty food, many interesting places, attractions and beautiful people.

Spanish natives are believed to be very emotional. It’s true, local residents greet tourists with great joy and are in a hurry to provide them with a service. But in order to address this or that person, you need to express yourself in such a way that he understands you.

There are four of them here. There are also many dialects in this country. – Spanish leader in the number of dialects. Despite the fact that Spain looks like a single country in the eyes of visiting foreigners, it is multi-ethnic. Catalans, Russians, British and even Americans live here. This explains the cultural diversity of the country. There are many customs and traditions, national dishes and, of course, speech features.

The official state language in Spain is Castilian. Let's talk about each of the four languages.

• Castilian. The title of this speech was given by the Queen of Castile. Since the culture of the state was multinational, the queen decided to create a single language that would be understood by everyone. Since then, Castilian speech has acquired official status. Castilian speech is mainly spoken in the center and north of the country. , including Barcelona, ​​it is spoken by more than 40 million people. It is believed that Castilian speech is the most widespread in the state. Those who spoke Castilian created many dialects. The most common of them are Rioja and churro.
• Catalan. Catalan is also spoken by many Spaniards - more than 10 million people. It is mainly used by people living on the islands (for example). On the islands, Catalan is considered the official language. Many dialects have also been created from this speech.
• Galician. Galician speech became widespread in one of the Spanish provinces - Galicia. Galicia borders Portugal, this left its mark on the formation of speech among the aborigines. Galician is spoken by about 3 million people in the country.
• Basque. This speech is in fourth place by the number of people speaking it. The Basque dialect is considered native to 800 thousand people. This speech is common in small regions of the state. Since this language is considered isolated, it is difficult to classify it as a language mixture.

Do they speak Russian in Spain?

Many tourists from Russia are worried about the possibility of a speech barrier with local residents. The Russian language is not popular in Spain, but this does not mean that Russian-speaking tourists will not be understood.

Here, as in many other European countries, English is the universal language. It is owned by Spanish transfer employees, hotel workers, restaurants and cafes. However, what about those who do not know English? There are several options:

1. A tourist can use an electronic translator. This is the easiest way to communicate, which is why it has become very popular. To speak in a language understandable to the natives, a Russian-speaking tourist must only download the appropriate program to his gadget.

An electronic translator often helps those who do not know a foreign language when traveling

After he says a phrase in Russian, the program will automatically translate it into English or Spanish.

1. He can also use a Spanish dictionary. But this method is not very convenient, since you have to carry a dictionary with you all the time. And it will take time to find the right word in it.
2. A tourist can prepare for the trip in advance and learn a few phrases that will be useful to him. For example: “I booked a room at your hotel.”

The Spaniards took care of the comfort of Russian-speaking travelers, so in many restaurants you can now find menus translated into Russian.

In many restaurants in Spain, Russian tourists can feel free: there will be no language barrier here

Those who speak English fluently will not experience any language difficulties here. Going to a Spanish museum, a foreign tourist will be pleasantly surprised by the audio version of the guide’s story, which will kindly be provided to him. This is convenient, because while visiting the museum, the tourist will be able to hear English spoken and receive interesting information.

Also, at almost all stops in Spain, transport diagrams are duplicated in English.

If a traveler wants to take an excursion to one of the Spanish hinterlands, he must be prepared for the fact that he will not be understood there. Not every resident of the province speaks English, much less Russian. In this case, a Russian-Spanish phrasebook will help out the tourist.

Interesting facts about Spanish dialects

• Nationalities such as Basques, Aragonese, Occitans and Catalans have their own languages, which are considered official.
• Castilian speech in Spain is considered universal for business documentation. This is a standardized language. It is understood throughout Spain. Reporters speak Castilian and even judges pronounce their sentences on the accused in it.
• In Spain there was the so-called Franco regime, according to which the speech of national minorities must be eradicated. This should be done with the aim of assimilating national minorities. However, Franco's regime was not successful. Today in Spain there are many ethnic groups and nationalities who speak their native language.
• The second most popular language in the country, after Spanish, is English. About 30% of local residents speak it fluently. The second most popular foreign language in Spain is French. It is spoken by 12% of Spaniards. About 2% of local residents speak German fluently.
• Spanish is the official language even in the Balearic Islands.

History of the Castilian dialect

For many people, Castilian speech is "true Spanish". It has a centuries-old history. The language originated in medieval times, when Spain was ruled by the Queen of Castile.

The Queen understood that in order to effectively manage the territories, it was necessary for the people and the authorities to understand each other. This requires speech that is understandable to everyone. And since at that time a large number of foreigners already lived in Spain, it was not easy to make any language universal.

Therefore, the Queen of Castile decided to assimilate all foreigners. Their culture had to be replaced by Spanish, including speech. The creation of Castilian speech helped the queen to establish contact with her people.

People accepted the speech changes well, because thanks to the fact that the Castilian language had become universal, they could understand not only the Spaniards living on the other side of the country, but also the foreigners who came here.

Giving Castilian speech official status allowed the queen to actively promote it outside her country. During the era of great geographical discoveries, Castilian speech was actively exported to other countries. This language is written in Latin, so every Spaniard could learn it.

Today, Spanish ranks second in the world in terms of the number of speakers. The first place is occupied by the Chinese language. Spanish is considered the most popular among all Romance dialects. More than 1.5 billion people can speak Spanish fluently. Most of them live in the West.

Watch a video about how the Spanish language came to be.

Spain amazes not only with its bright sun, magnificent beaches, delicious food, passionate dancing, incredible architecture and emotional beautiful people. Spain also surprises with the number of languages ​​and dialects.

Just imagine, there are four official languages ​​in Spain (!), not to mention the dialects. The languages, of course, have some similarities, but the differences are so great that each of them has acquired the status of an independent language.

Castilian language

Castilian is the very official Spanish, which received its name from the kingdom of Castile, where it, in fact, was formed. The country's culture was so multinational that a language that everyone could understand was simply necessary. Therefore, Castilian became the official language. The Spaniards call it castellano, and if the conversation turns to other countries, then español. Castilian is spoken mainly in the north and center of Spain. Castilian is spoken by more than 40 million people throughout the country and is the most widely spoken Spanish language. Castilian dialects can be found in areas near borders where the two languages ​​are mixed. Among them are: Madrid, Aragonese, Galician, Rioja, Murcian and Churro.

Catalan

Catalan (catala) is spoken in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. In these areas, like Spanish, it is an official language. In addition, Catalan is used in Andorra, where it has been recognized as an official language, in the south of France and Sardinia. In terms of the number of people speaking it in Spain, it takes an honorable second place - 10 million people. There is also a Valencian version of the Catalan language, which differs in phonetics, but until now it has not been isolated as a separate language or dialect. But Mallorquin, spoken in the Balearic Islands, was fully recognized as a dialect of Catalan.

Galician language

The Galician language (galego) is spoken in the Spanish province of Galicia, which borders Portugal. Along with Spanish, Galician was recognized as an official language in this territory. As you might guess, it ranks third in terms of the number of users in Spain: it is native to 3 million people. Due to territorial factors, Galician is considered close to both Spanish and Portuguese. It has three dialects: Western, which is common in the Rias Bajas, approximately to Santiago de Compostela; eastern, which is spoken in the eastern part of Galicia and in the borderlands of Zamora and Leon, and central, which occupies most of the province.

Basque

Basque (euskara) is the fourth most spoken language in Spain, with approximately 800 thousand users. It is spoken in a very limited area. This is the north of Spain: Navarre, Gipuzkoa and part of Vizcaya. Historically, this territory is called the Basque country. Along with Spanish, Basque is an official language in this area, but it does not have the features of Spanish, like Galician. The mysterious Basque language cannot be attributed to any language family; it is a so-called isolated language. Its complexity and limited area led to its use as a cipher during World War II.

Asturian dialect

The Asturian language (asturianu), spoken in the northern Spanish province of Asturias, despite its audience of 500 thousand people, has not yet received the status of an official language and continues to be considered a dialect of Spanish, but by law the authorities are obliged to support its study in order to preserve it. Other dialects that are either similar to Asturian or even variants of it are Lena, Cantabrian and Extremaduran.

It is one of the most widespread languages ​​on the planet and is represented on almost all continents; this is connected both with the colonial past of Spain and with the active settlement of Spaniards around the world in the 20th century. The civil war that shook the country in the 20th century became a catalyst for the active movement of Spaniards around the world, and many supporters of communism, fleeing their fascist persecutors, even ended up in the Soviet Union.

Spanish speaking countries

If we assume that a country is considered Spanish-speaking if there is a fairly large number of people for whom Spanish is their native language, then in the world we can count more than forty countries that meet this criterion.

First of all, of course, Spanish is the official language. But there are twenty-two other countries in which Spanish is officially recognized. The community of Spanish-speaking countries traditionally includes states where the language has official status.

The list of Spanish speaking countries is as follows:

• Argentina;
• Chile;
• Colombia;
• Bolivia;
• Costa Rica;
• Cuba;
• Dominican Republic;
• Ecuador;
• Guatemala;
• Honduras;
• Mexico;
• Nicaragua;
• Panama;
• Paraguay;
• Peru;
• Puerto Rico;
• Salvador;
• Uruguay;
• Venezuela;
• Spain;
• Philippines.

Spanish-speaking countries in Africa include the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The Spanish language achieved a dominant position in these countries thanks to the aggressive colonialist policy of Spain, which lasted for four centuries. During this time, Spanish-speaking countries appeared in all parts of the world, and the language spread from Easter Island, today under the control of the Chilean Republic, to countries

Jewish influence

However, it was not only colonialism that contributed to the spread of the language around the world. There were other events, no less tragic, that influenced this process.

In 1492, the Spanish Queen Isabella shocked the large Jewish community of her country with a decree of incredible cruelty: all Jews had to leave the country or accept holy baptism, which, of course, was unacceptable to devout Jews. Death awaited those who disobeyed.

Within three months, many Jewish families left the kingdom, taking with them, in addition to their personal belongings, the language and culture of the Spanish kingdom. This is how the Spanish language was brought to the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and then to the state of Israel.

In addition, numerous Spanish and Jewish settlers brought the language to Morocco, which had long been safe thanks to the traditional religious tolerance of Islamic rulers.

Spanish in the USA

The United States Constitution makes no mention of an official language, and most states do not have special laws governing this issue. However, along with English, Spanish is actively used in the country, therefore, although the United States is not considered a Spanish-speaking country, in some states Spanish is also used in government agencies.

The large number of Hispanic Americans is associated not only with migration, as it might seem, but also with historical events in the nineteenth century, when Mexico and the United States actively competed for influence in North America.

The result of this confrontation was a devastating war that lasted two years from 1846 to 1848. As a result of the war, more than a million square kilometers of land were alienated from Mexico, which amounted to almost half the territory of the losing country. Along with these lands, the United States also received Spanish-speaking citizens. Since then, Spanish has been the second most widely spoken language in many southern states, and in some states Spanish is spoken by a majority of the population.

We always talk about learning Spanish (or Castilian), but few people realize that Spain is a multilingual state in which, along with Castellano, there are three other official languages. They are used in some autonomous regions of the country.

Article Three of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 states:
1. Of the languages ​​of Spain, Castilian is the official state language. All Spaniards are obliged to know it and have the right to use it.
2. The remaining languages ​​of Spain are also official in the respective Autonomous Communities in accordance with their Statutes.
3. The rich linguistic and dialectal diversity of Spain is part of its cultural heritage and is particularly respected and protected.”

If a language is called Cooficial and is one of the official languages, then its status is equal to other official languages. Spanish autonomous regions that have their own language include Galicia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. During Franco's dictatorship, the use of local languages ​​was persecuted by law, which is why they are now trying to protect them from extinction as best as possible. Official languages ​​are compulsory to study in educational centers of these regions.

Spanish or Castilian is considered the official language of the entire country, in practice it is the dominant language in all autonomous regions. But 6 of the 16 regions of Spain use other languages ​​along with Castellano, which usually have the status of a second official language.

But the existence of two official languages ​​on the same territory does not mean complete bilingualism. To varying degrees, the castellano predominates depending on the dependence. The local languages ​​of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia are considered minority languages ​​and various programs and development strategies are usually used to promote them.

All local languages ​​used in Spain, except the Basque language (which is outside the group), belong to the group of Romance languages, in other words, those spoken in the Roman Empire and which are derived from Latin.

Castellano

Castellano is the only official language of the entire country and is recognized as a native language by the majority of the Spanish population. After Mexico and the United States, Spain is the third country in the world with the largest Spanish-speaking population (sharing this place with Colombia).

It serves as the sole official language of the regions of Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Aragon, Castile and Leon, Madrid, Castile - La Mancha, Extremadura, Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Murcia, Ceuta, Melilla and parts of Navarre. And in Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands, it is considered one of the official ones.
In all these territories, Castilian is the standardized language and the second official language is the minority language. For the most part, the local dialect predominates in spoken language, while Castilian prevails in official documents.

The language originated in the mountains of Cantabria and began a gradual expansion to the south in the 10th century. The dominance of the Castilian dialect over other languages ​​began in the Middle Ages, during the Reconquista; with the establishment of the political, cultural and economic hegemony of the Kingdom of Castile, which then grew into Castile and Leon. The language also became widespread in the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre, which contributed to the growing popularity of the language (especially in the areas of trade, communication and diplomacy) in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the second half of the twentieth century, processes of internal migration, although to a lesser extent, also contributed to the dominance of Spanish.

Catalan/Valencian language

Catalan is considered the official language of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, while Valencian, which is a Western variant of Catalan, has the same status only within the Community of Valencia.

Catalan has two main varieties: Central, which is used in the provinces of Barcelona, ​​Girona, and the eastern part of Tarragona, and Northwestern, which is spoken in Lleida and the western part of the province of Tarragona. In Catalonia, Castellano is the mother tongue of the majority of the population (53.5%), while Catalan is spoken by only 40.4%.

In turn, the language of the Balearic Islands is a variety of Catalan and has features that fundamentally distinguish it from the island dialect.

Valencia uses Valencian, which is a variety of Western Catalan. According to linguistic indicators, Valencia has two zones: Castilian monolingualism (13% of the population) and Valencian-Castilian bilingualism (81% of the population).

Galician language

Galician is the official language of Galicia. It is closely related to Portuguese and formed a close linguistic unity with it in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the 14th century, thanks to active advancement to the south, the original dialect was divided into Portuguese and Galician.

In Galicia, 61% of the population uses Galician more often than Castilian. A distinctive characteristic is that Castilian is preferred by residents of cities, while Galician is preferred by residents of rural areas.

At the moment, more than three million people speak this language, both in Galicia and in the eastern part of Asturias, Leon and Zamora.

Language of the Basque Country

In the Basque country, some areas of Navarre, as well as in the south of France, Basque is the official language.

The Basque language is one of the languages ​​that dates back to the pre-Roman era. Many studies have been carried out, but so far it has not been possible to find out its origin. However, many scholars note its similarities with the Georgian language. Despite the strong Roman influence, in the third century the language was not subject to Romanization, managed to survive and did not undergo any significant changes.

By 1984, the language had many dialects, so to simplify communication, the language was unified and called “euskera batúa”.

Text: Irina Kharseeva