English-speaking world

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English language distribution
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Majority native language
Official or administrative language, but not majority native language English language distribution.svg
English language distribution
  Majority native language
  Official or administrative language, but not majority native language

The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, [1] [2] making it the largest language by number of speakers, the third largest language by number of native speakers and the most widespread language geographically. The countries in which English is the native language of most people are sometimes termed the Anglosphere. Speakers of English are called Anglophones.

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Early Medieval England was the birthplace of the English language; the modern form of the language has been spread around the world since the 17th century, first by the worldwide influence of England and later the United Kingdom, and then by that of the United States. Through all types of printed and electronic media of these countries, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional fields, such as science, navigation and law. [3]

The United States and India have the most total English speakers, with 306 million and 129 million, [4] respectively. These are followed by Pakistan (104 million), the United Kingdom (68 million), and Nigeria (60 million). [5] As of 2022, there were about 400 million native speakers of English. [6] Including people who speak English as a second language, estimates of the total number of Anglophones vary from 1.5 billion to 2 billion. [2] David Crystal calculated in 2003 that non-native speakers outnumbered native speakers by a ratio of three to one. [7]

Besides the major varieties of EnglishAmerican, British, Canadian, Australian, Irish, New Zealand English—and their sub-varieties, countries such as South Africa, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago also have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from English-based creole languages to Standard English. Other countries and territories, such as Ghana, also use English as their primary official language even though it is not the native language of most of the people. English holds official status in numerous countries within the Commonwealth of Nations. [8]

Majority English-speaking countries

English-speaking peoples monument in London English speaking peoples.jpg
English-speaking peoples monument in London

English is the primary natively spoken language in several countries and territories. Five of the largest of these are sometimes described as the "core Anglosphere"; [9] [10] [11] they are the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

The term "Anglosphere" can sometimes be extended to include other countries and territories where English or an English Creole language is also the primary native language and English is the primary language of government and education, such as Ireland, Gibraltar, and the Commonwealth Caribbean. [12]

While English is also spoken by a majority of people as a second language in a handful of countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, these countries are not considered part of the English-speaking world as the language is still viewed primarily as a foreign tongue and does not serve an important cultural role in society. [13]

Countries or territories where English is an official language

English is an official language ( de facto or de jure ) of the following countries and territories. [14]

Although not official, English is also an important language in some former colonies and protectorates of the British Empire where it is used as an administrative language, namely Brunei, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.

English as a global language

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been called a "world language", the lingua franca of the modern era, [15] and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. [7] [16] It is, by international treaty, the official language for aeronautical [17] and maritime [18] communications. English is one of the official languages of the United Nations and many other international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee. It is also one of two co-official languages for astronauts (besides the Russian language) serving on board the International Space Station.[ citation needed ]

The English language has a particular significance in the Commonwealth of Nations, which developed from the British Empire. [19] English is the medium of inter-Commonwealth relations. [20] The English language as used in the Commonwealth has sometimes been referred to as Commonwealth English , most often interchangeably with British English. [21]

English is studied most often in the European Union, and the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages among Europeans is 67% in favour of English, ahead of 17% for German and 16% for French (as of 2012). In some of the non–English-speaking EU countries, the following percentages of adults claimed to be able to converse in English in 2012: 90% in the Netherlands; 89% in Malta; 86% in Sweden and Denmark; 73% in Cyprus, Croatia, and Austria; 70% in Finland; and over 50% in Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Germany. In 2012, excluding native speakers, 38% of Europeans consider that they can speak English. [22]

Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world; English is the most commonly used language in the sciences, [15] with Science Citation Index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.

In publishing, English literature predominates considerably, with 28% of all books published in the world [Leclerc 2011][ full citation needed ] and 30% of web content in 2011 (down from 50% in 2000). [16]

The increasing use of the English language globally has had a large impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and language death, [23] and to claims of linguistic imperialism.[ citation needed ] English itself has become more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole. [24]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish language</span> Romance language

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of the United States</span>

The United States does not have an official language at the federal level, but the most commonly used language is English, which is the de facto national language. In addition, 32 U.S. states out of 50 and all five U.S. territories have declared English as an official language. The majority of the U.S. population (78%) speaks only English at home as of 2023, according to the American Community Survey (ACS) of the U.S. Census Bureau. The remainder of the population speaks many other languages at home, most notably Spanish. Asian languages such as Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese are also widely spoken, in addition to the Indigenous languages of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and native populations in the U.S. unincorporated territories. Many languages were brought into the United States during its earliest history from Europe, Africa, Asia, other parts of the Americas, and Oceania, with some of them developing into dialects, creole languages, and pidgin languages. American Sign Language (ASL) and Interlingua, an international auxiliary language, were created in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglosphere</span> Grouping of English-speaking nations

The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is the Anglo-American sphere of influence, with a core group of nations that today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in different sources vary, the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries where English is an official language, so it is not synonymous with the sphere of anglophones, though commonly included nations are those that were formerly part of the British Empire and retained the English language and English common law.

Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term Anglosphere. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British descent in Anglo-America, the Anglophone Caribbean, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. It is used in Canada to differentiate between Francophone Canadians, located mainly in Quebec but found across Canada, and Anglophone Canadians, also located across Canada, including in Quebec. It is also used in the United States to distinguish the Hispanic and Latino population from the non-Hispanic white majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of the United Kingdom</span>

English is the most widely spoken and de facto official language of the United Kingdom. A number of regional and migrant languages are also spoken. Regional English variant languages include Scots and Ulster Scots, and indigenous Celtic languages include Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh. There are many non-native languages spoken by immigrants, including Polish, Hindi, and Urdu. British Sign Language is sometimes used as well as liturgical and hobby languages such as Latin and a revived form of Cornish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Canada</span>

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Hispanophone refers to anything related to the Spanish language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geographical distribution of German speakers</span> Ethnic group

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh people</span> Ethnic group and nation native to Wales

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">English language</span> West Germanic language

English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, whose speakers, called Anglophones, originated in early medieval England on the island of Great Britain. The namesake of the language is the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain after its Roman occupiers left. English is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire and the United States. English is the third-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish; it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers.

The British diaspora consists of people of English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish, Manx and Channel Islands ancestral descent who live outside of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish people</span> Ethnic group native to Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages in censuses</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">CANZUK</span> Proposed international alliance

CANZUK is an acronym for a proposed alliance comprising Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as part of an international organisation or confederation similar in scope to the former European Economic Community. This includes increased trade, foreign policy co-operation, military co-operation and mobility of citizens between the four states, tied together by similar economic systems, social values and political and legal systems, in addition to the majority population of each country speaking English. The idea is lobbied by the advocacy group CANZUK International and supported primarily by conservatives. Other supporters include think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute, the Henry Jackson Society, Bruges Group and politicians from the four countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese-speaking world</span>

The Portuguese-speaking world, also known as the Lusophone World or the Lusosphere, comprises the countries and territories in which the Portuguese language is an official, administrative, cultural, or secondary language. This article provides details regarding the geographical distribution of all Portuguese-speakers, a.k.a.Lusophones, regardless of legislative status. Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is an official language of countries on four continents.

References

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  3. The Routes of English.
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  11. Gregg, Samuel (17 February 2020). "Getting Real About the Anglosphere". Law & Liberty. Archived from the original on Oct 17, 2022. ...from what might be called the "core" Anglosphere nations: Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States;
  12. Lloyd, John (2000). "The Anglosphere Project". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  13. "The Anglosphere and its Others: The 'English-speaking Peoples' in a Changing World Order – British Academy". British Academy. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  14. "Field Listing - Languages". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency . Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  15. 1 2 David Graddol (1997). "The Future of English?" (PDF). The British Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  16. 1 2 Northrup 2013.
  17. "ICAO Promotes Aviation Safety by Endorsing English Language Testing". International Civil Aviation Organization. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  18. "IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases". International Maritime Organization. Archived from the original on 27 December 2003.
  19. "About Us". thecommonwealth.org. The Commonwealth. Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  20. "Joining the Commonwealth". Commonwealth. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
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English and Diplomacy