As A Native Language But Have No Official Status
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. 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. 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. In the Philippines, was the first lingua franca of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish rule in the late 16th century, through the country's independence, until a constitutional change in 1973. Spanish was then re-designated an official language by presidential decree, and remained official until the present Constitution removed its official status. Today, The Spanish language is now an optional language of the country together with Arabic. The Spanish language is not official but also holds a special status (in the education system, the media, and some official documents) in Andorra and Gibraltar. 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. A similar situation exists in Belize, where Spanish is the first language of almost half of the population.
| Country | Population | Native speakers |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 314,687,369 | 37,579,787 |
| Philippines | 92,337,852 | 440,000 |
| Belize | 301,270 | 106,795 |
| Andorra | 84,484 | 29,907 |
| Gibraltar | 27,967 | 13,857 |
Read more about this topic: List Of Countries Where Spanish Is An Official Language
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