The article gives details about Spanish speaking countries and Countries where Spanish is official language. The table also enlists the population of Spanish speaking countries. As a matter of fact, these countries are also called as Hispanic countries.
Spanish Speaking Countries
Spanish language is native to Spain from where it propagated to world during colonial times. There are total 21 countries where Spanish is the official language. Except mainland Spain, most of these countries belong to Latin America. Of all these 21 countries Mexico boasts of the largest Spanish speaking population. Due to vast majority of nations speaking Spanish language, Spanish is the third most spoken language in world. Spanish is also called as Castilian language. Although grammatically and structurally Castilian (Spanish of Spain) and Latin Spanish are same, there are certain differences between them.
In Spain, Peru and Ecuador, Spanish is the only official language. Five of Latin American countries – Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay, Spanish is considered as de-facto official language. It means that although constitutionally there is no official language but by default practice as a matter of fact, Spanish is considered official due to its widespread use. The thirteen remaining countries have Spanish as de-jure official status which means official status is granted by legislation.
Spanish Speaking Countries outside Latin America
Outside Latin America except Spain, there are two primary Spanish speaking countries. These countries are Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara. Both of these countries are located on west coast of Africa. Equatorial Guinea has Spanish as its official language. Western Sahara has disputed land borders with Morocco and Spanish is not official language but has got working language status. Apart from 20 Latin American countries and mainland Spain, Western Sahara is the only one Islamic African country where Spanish is widely spoken.
United States of America boasts of about 45 million Spanish speakers who use Spanish as their native or secondary language. This makes United States as third largest country in world with Hispanic population (After i) Mexico and ii) Colombia). Furthermore Spanish is the second most spoken language in USA after English. There are much more Spanish speakers in USA than French, Mandarin (all forms), Italian, German etc.
Officially Spanish speaking Countries Map
List of Countries where Spanish is Official Language
Country Population
Argentina 43,024,374
Bolivia 10,631,486
Chile 17,363,894
Colombia 48,400,388
Costa Rica 4,755,234
Cuba 11,047,251
Dominican Republic 10,349,741
Ecuador 15,654,411
El Salvador 6,125,512
Equatorial Guinea 1,722,512
Guatemala 14,647,083
Honduras 8,598,561
Mexico 120,286,655
Nicaragua 5,848,641
Panama 3,608,431
Paraguay 6,703,860
Peru 30,147,935
Puerto Rico 3,620,897
Spain 47,737,941
Urugay 3,392,972
Venezuela 28,868,486