International language

Spanish is a major international language and is one of the official languages of the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), World Trade Organisation (WTO), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and about 70 other international organisations.

Spanish is one of the few truly international world languages, ie a language spoken in and recognized by a large number of countries, adopted by a significant number of international organizations, and taught/learnt in virtually every country in the world.

Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, the OSCE, the African Union, the Organisation of American States, the World Trade Organisation, and about 70 other international organisations. Access to work in these organisations, where 2-3 languages are usually required, is much improved by a working knowledge of Spanish.

The majority of its speakers are located in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and the north east of the African Continent. With approximately 103 million first-language and second-language speakers, Mexico boasts the largest population of Spanish-speakers in the world. The four next largest populations reside in Colombia (44 million), Spain (approx. 44 million), Argentina (39 million) and the United States of America (approx. 38 million (according to Berlitz report in Encyclopedia Britanica), where it is not an official language but is widely spoken in immigrant communities. It is an important and widely-spoken language, but without official recognition, in Belize.

Spanish is also spoken by segments of the populations in Aruba, Canada, Israel (both standard Spanish and Ladino), northern Morocco (both standard Spanish and Ladino), Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey (Ladino), the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Western Sahara.1