Spanish around the World

The Spanish language has been called the second world language, due to its large world wide distribution. It's origin goes far back into history. Tribes, such as the Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Greeks, have contributed to the early development of the Spanish language.

Around 200 BC, due to the reign of the Roman Empire and then later on during the 5th to the 8th century, due to the long period of the Muslim invasion of about 750 years, the Spanish language has been influenced and undergone further development.

Over this period of continuing tensions between Christians and Muslims and over about 3700 battles later Philip the III succeeded and the last battle with Muslim invaders had been fought. Some centuries later then in 1469, through the marriage union of Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, Spain became a Kingdom. The year 1492 also presents a milestone in the start of the wide distribution and influence of the Spanish language When Ferdinand and Isabella sent the all known Italian explorer Christopher Columbus to sea, which led to the discovery of the American Continent.

The worldwide distribution of the Spanish language and the number of speakers: With the colonial power of Spain the Spanish language has become widespread, second only to the English language. The Spanish language is one of the romance languages, such like Italian and French. The Spanish language is colorful and rich in history and an impressive number of millions of people are speaking this language today. Here is a chart of the top ten countries with Spanish speakers:

Country : speakers:

Mexico 106.255,000
Spain 46.000,000
Columbia 45.500,000
Argentina 41.248,000
United States of America 32.200,000
Venezuela 26.021,000
Peru 23.191,000
Chile 15.795,000
Cuba 11.285,000
Ecuador 10.946,000