Countries That Speak Spanish

Think Spanish is only spoken in Spain and Mexico? Well, think again. Believe it or not, but there are 21 nations in this world where Spanish is a highly popular language and is also the official language. More than 450 million people in this world speak this language and there are also more who are learning this language. In fact, Spanish is the second most popular foreign language that people are learning, after English. This language is also the third most widely spoken language after English and Chinese. Be it, USA, Europe, countries in South America or Mexico, the population of Spanish speaking people is increasing every day. In USA, Spanish speaking people are the largest minority groups. Interested to know more about which are the countries that speak Spanish, all over the world? Then here is a list which will give you all the information.

The Spanish Language

Before we talk about the countries, let us learn a bit more about the history of this language. The Spanish language originated from the Vulgar Latin, which the Romans introduced in the Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War around 210 BC. This language was also influenced by some of the local languages like Celtiberian, Basque and also some parts of the Arabic language. The Spanish language is a Romance language which means that it is a branch of the Indo-European language family and also a part of the Italic language sub family.

The modern Spanish language developed during the 15th century and even now, this languages adopts foreign words and also develops new words. The language spread to other parts of the world, when Spain set up her colonies in Africa, South America and also parts of Asia Pacific. Now this language is the third most popular language and it is also one of the six official language of the United Nations. Now that we know a bit about the history of this beautiful language, let us now see the list.

South America
There are several countries in South America where Spanish is spoken as an official language. Want to know which are those countries? Then here is a list given below which will help you. Also given are the capitals of these countries.

• Quito, Ecuador
• Asuncion, Paraguay
• Lima, Peru
• Caracas, Venezuela
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Santiago, Chile
• Bogota, Colombia
• Montevideo, Uruguay
• La Paz, Bolivia

North and Central America
Here are some countries where Spanish is their first language. Also given are the capitals of these countries.

• Havana, Cuba
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Panama City, Panama
• Managua, Nicaragua
• Guatemala City, Guatemala
• San Salvador, El Salvador
• San Jose, Costa Rica
• Tegucigalpa, Honduras
• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• San Juan, Puerto Rico

Africa
Now, let us take a look at those countries in the continent of Africa, where Spanish is the official language of the people. Unlike South, Central, and North America, there is only one country in Africa, where Spanish is the official language of the people and that's Equatorial Guinea in West Africa and its capital is Malabo. Besides Spanish, French is also one of the official language in some of the countries of Africa.

Other Countries
The first name that comes into everyone's mind while talking about Europe, of course where else but Spain, where Spanish is the first language and the official language, and it's capital is...yes! You are right! Madrid. There are some more countries where people speak Spanish, but in these countries the language is not an official language. Those countries are:

• Ankara, Turkey
• Washington, DC, USA
• London, UK
• Kingston, Jamaica
• Wellington, New Zealand
• Beijing, China
• Moscow, Russia
• Helsinki, Finland
• Bern, Switzerland
• Athens, Greece
• Brasilia, Brazil
• Tokyo, Japan
• Paris, France
• Ottawa, Canada
• Berlin, Germany

These are the countries where Spanish is spoken by minority groups. Slowly, this language will become more popular with so many people learning this language due to various reasons; the way it sounds, the sweetness of it and of course to be able to talk to the dark eyed and haired, good looking guys.... and yes girls too! So adios people!