All Spanish speaking countries

Here is a compiled list of countries where Spanish is an official language, plus a number of countries where Spanish is an important or significant language. Spanish is the official language, either by law or de facto, in 20 sovereign states and one territory. Spanish is the world’s fourth most spoken language, with more than 600 million speakers, and the second most spoken native language. Spanish is an Ibero-Romance language that developed from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.

The oldest Latin texts showing traces of Spanish come from the central part of northern Iberia during the 10th century, and the first systematic written use of the language took place in Toledo, a prominent city in the Kingdom of Castile, during the 13th century. From 1492 onward, the Spanish language was brought to several parts of the world during the Spanish Empire, especially to the Americas, as well as to territories in Africa, Oceania, and the Philippines.

The structure of the Spanish language

Spanish has two grammatical genders, masculine and feminine. The language has around 50 verb inflections and is a fairly inflected language. The Spanish vocabulary is 89% identical to Portuguese, 85% to Catalan, 82% to Italian, 76% to Sardinian, 75% to French, 74% to Romansh, and 71% to Romanian.

De facto or de jure

“De facto” means “in fact” and is a term that refers to the actual circumstances, how something exists in reality.

“De jure” means “by law” and is a term that refers to what the law says.

Spanish is an official language in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela, either by law or de facto.

List of Spanish speaking countries:

1. Argentina – Official de facto.
2. Bolivia – Official de jure.
3. Chile – Official de facto.
4. Colombia – Official de jure.
5. Costa Rica – Official de jure.
6. Cuba – Official de jure.
7. Dominican Republic – Official de jure.
8. Ecuador – Official de jure.
9. El Salvador – Official de facto.
10. Equatorial Guinea – Official de jure.
11. Guatemala – Official de jure.
12. Honduras – Official de jure.
13. Mexico – Official de facto.
14. Nicaragua – Official de facto.
15. Panama – Official de jure.
16. Paraguay – Official de jure.
17. Peru – Official de jure.
18. Puerto Rico (a territory belonging to the United States) – Official de jure.
19. Spain – Official de jure.
20. Uruguay – Official de facto.
21. Venezuela – Official de jure.

Spanish speaking countries with a significant number of speakers or special status

1. Andorra (Europe) – 65% or 59,909 people of the population speak Spanish.
2. Aruba (Caribbean) – 74.3% or 75,402 people of the population speak Spanish at different levels.
3. Belize (Central America) – 52% or 173,597 people of the population speak Spanish.
4. Curaçao (Caribbean) – 56.3% or 10,699 people of the population speak Spanish at different levels.
5. Gibraltar (Europe) – 82% or 23,857 people of the population speak Spanish.
6. United States (North America) – 16% or 52 million people of the population speak Spanish.
7. Western Sahara (Africa) – 4.29% or 22,000 out of 513,000 people of the population speak Spanish.