1. Over 400 million people speak Spanish.
Spanish is the mother tongue of an estimated 400-450 million people, making it the world’s second most spoken language.
Spanish only falls in second place behind Chinese, which is spoken by over a billion people and far outranks any other language.
Spanish surpasses English in its number of speakers, as English comes in third place with 335 million native speakers around the world.
2. There are 21 countries that have Spanish as the official language.
Spanish enjoys official language status in 21 countries across Europe, Africa, Central, South and North America, making it an especially important global language.
Not only is it the main language for these 21 sovereign states, but it also serves as a key language in a handful of dependent territories.
For many people in these places, it is the only way to communicate and all official correspondence and documents are in Spanish. Spanish is also used in schools to teach the curricula.
Since English is spoken in 112 countries, the English language is the most widespread in terms of the number of countries that speak it. French is second with 60 countries speaking the language and Arabic is third, with 57 countries who communicate in Arabic.
Sure, Spanish only comes in fourth place in this aspect, but that still results in making it one of the most significant languages in the world. Many international companies and organizations, including the United Nations, have adopted Spanish as one of their official languages.
3. The demand of learning Spanish is increasing.
Spain has always been a popular travel and foreign study destination. Studying Spanish in schools and universities has also grown in popularity. These days the language is becoming extremely popular in Asia, signifying its importance in global economic markets.
The use of Spanish online has risen by an incredible 800% in recent years and this means it is the third most popular language on the Internet, not far behind Mandarin and English.
An estimated 18 million students are currently studying Spanish as a foreign language. Forecasts indicate that, in a few generations from now, 10% of the world’s population will understand Spanish—whereas the number is currently 6%. That is a big leap coming!
Borrowed from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/
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