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- Contents
- English: The Most Widely Spoken Language
- 96 English-Speaking Countries
- How Did English Spread Throughout The World?
English is spoken as an official language in around 55 countries and 20 non-sovereign territories. However, there are at least 20 more countries where English is commonly spokenor even the native language, even though it’s not legally an official language. Having English as an official languagemeans it is permitted for use on official government do...
At least 1.5 billion people speak English, and they can be found all over the world. To make things a little easier to follow, we’ve broken down the 96 total English-speaking countries by region:
The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain is usually considered the beginning of the English language’s spread. The language changed when Norse invaders brought several new words, which were added into daily speech. English began to borrow some words from French and Latin. During the Medieval period, English started to become more standardized. As...
Entries include: The region (s) of use within the countries where the language is spoken. Alternate names for the language. Dialects of the language. The three-letter code that identifies the language according to the ISO 639-3 standard. Estimated population of speakers. Genetic classification of the language. Domains of language use and viability.
Many people in the world grow up speaking different languages in different contexts during daily life—for example, one language within the family, another within the village, and another for official business—all learned without formal classes.
According to the World Atlas of Languages’ methodology, there are 8324 languages, spoken or signed, documented by the governments, public institutions and academic communities; out of 8324, around 7000 languages are still in use.
Apr 3, 2024 · The UN, the nearest thing we have, or have ever had, to a global community, currently uses five official languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese, and an estimated 85% of international organizations have English as at least one of their official languages (French comes next with less than 50%).
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