The World of Languages · Indo-European
Spanish · español
The second language of the Americas and Spain: one of the most-spoken native languages in the world, and famously phonetic.
- 487 million native speakers
- 561 million speakers in total
- Latin script
- FSI Category I · 30 weeks
- Official in 23 countries
Where Spanish is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Mexico · MéxicoOfficial language · 109M (83%)
- ArgentinaOfficial language · 47M (100%)
- Spain · EspañaOfficial language · 47M (99%)
- ColombiaOfficial language · 46M (93%)
- Philippines · FilipinasWidely spoken · 37M (31%)
- United States · Estados UnidosOfficial regionally · 33M (9.6%)
- VenezuelaOfficial language · 26M (82%)
- Peru · PerúOfficial language · 24M (73%)
- ChileOfficial language · 18M (98%)
- EcuadorOfficial language · 18M (96%)
- GuatemalaOfficial language · 17M (93%)
- CubaOfficial language · 11M (100%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 487 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 75 million
- Total speakers
- 561 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia
Spanish at a glance
Spanish (español) or Castilian (castellano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It originated in the Kingdom of Castile, a kingdom in north-central Iberia. Today, it is a global language with 519 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain, and about 636 million speakers total, including second-language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 21 countries, as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico, with 130M speakers, almost triple that of the United States of America.
From the Wikipedia article Spanish language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Spanish
- español
- Family
- Indo-EuropeanClassical Indo-EuropeanItalicLatino-FaliscanLatinicImperial LatinRomanceItalo-Western RomanceWestern RomanceShifted Western RomanceSouthwestern Shifted RomanceWest Ibero-RomanceCastilic
- Writing system
- Latin alphabet with ñ (27 letters)
- Direction
- Left to right
- Official in
- Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Canary Islands, Equatorial Guinea, Paraguay, Ceuta & Melilla
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
spa· Glottologstan1288· Q1321 - Writing sample
Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos y, dotados como están de razón y conciencia, deben comportarse fraternalmente los unos con los otros.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Spanish for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Spanish in Category I: about 30 weeks (750 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The Spanish script
Latin alphabet with ñ (27 letters). Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful Spanish phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- uno
- dos
- tres
- cuatro
- cinco
- seis
- siete
- ocho
- nueve
- diez
Days of the week
- Mon lunes
- Tue martes
- Wed miércoles
- Thu jueves
- Fri viernes
- Sat sábado
- Sun domingo
Everyday words
- water agua
- cat gato
- dog perro
- coffee café
- beer cerveza
- bread pan
- book libro
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Peninsular Spanish
Spain
Uses vosotros for “you all”; most speakers say z and soft c as /θ/ (“th”), so gracias sounds like “grathias”.
Mexican Spanish
Mexico
Ustedes for “you all”; slang like ¿qué onda? (what’s up?) and padre (cool).
Rioplatense Spanish
Argentina and Uruguay
Voseo (vos sos instead of tú eres), and ll/y pronounced like “sh”: calle ≈ “cashe”.
Caribbean Spanish
Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
Final s is often weakened or dropped: ¿cómo estás? ≈ “¿cómo etá?”
Andean Spanish
Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador
Clearly pronounced consonants and many loanwords from Quechua.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables and false friends
sobremesa
Time spent chatting at the table after a meal has finished.
madrugada
The hours between midnight and dawn.
estrenar
To use or wear something for the very first time.
anteayer
The day before yesterday, in one word.
False friends for English speakers
| Spanish | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|
| embarazada | embarrassed | pregnant |
| éxito | exit | success |
| carpeta | carpet | folder |
| constipado | constipated | having a cold |
Curious facts
- Spanish spelling is very regular: if you can read a word, you can almost always say it.
- The Real Academia Española (founded 1713) and its partner academies across the Spanish-speaking world publish shared dictionary and grammar standards.
- Questions and exclamations open with upside-down marks: ¿Qué? ¡Hola!
- Around 8% of Spanish vocabulary is estimated to come from Arabic, a legacy of al-Andalus. Examples are aceite (oil) and ojalá (hopefully).
- Mexico has the largest number of native Spanish speakers of any country.
Famous Spanish-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Spanish culture now
Money Heist
Spanish heist crime drama television series
Despacito
2017 single by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee
Reggaeton
Music genre
Roma (2018 film)
2018 film by Alfonso Cuarón
Pan's Labyrinth
2006 film by Guillermo del Toro
One Hundred Years of Solitude
1967 novel by Gabriel García Márquez
Learn Spanish on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Spanish courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Spanish?
Where to learn Spanish
Learn Spanish
LangMagic's guide to learning Spanish.
LangMagicSpanish Content Portal
Spanish videos, with smooth progress from teachers' channels to native content.
LangMagicThe Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Spanish phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Spanish
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Spanish
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Spanish dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Spanish language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).