Countries that speak Spanish

Contrary to popular belief, Spain and Mexico are far from the only Spanish-speaking countries in the world. 477 million native Spanish speakers are out there, which earns it the distinction of being the second most native spoken language on Earth (behind Mandarin Chinese with approximately 955 million speakers, but in front of English with about 400 million native speakers.)

Did you know that 19% of the United States is Spanish-speaking? That means that there are even more Spanish speakers in the USA than in Colombia or Spain! In fact, the USA has the second most Spanish speakers of any country, only behind Mexico. According to the US Census Office, there are likely to be at least 138 million Spanish speakers by the year 2050.

How many countries have Spanish as their official language?

437 million people on the Earth speak Spanish as a native language. The following countries consider Spanish as one of their “official” languages: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The smallest Spanish-speaking country on Earth by population size is Equatorial Guinea with around 1,454,789 in 2019.

We have consistently advocated for travel and study abroad as two of the most critical methods of honing your Spanish skills. There is only so much that can be learned in a classroom before you actually have to get out there and hear Spanish spoken, and attempt to speak it back! Traveling to a Spanish-speaking country is generally accepted as one of the best ways of becoming a master of the language. Here are a number of Spanish-speaking countries that you have to choose from for your adventure.

Spanish-speaking countries

Places that speak Spanish

Beyond these primary Spanish-speaking countries, there are north of 70 countries worldwide with some portion of the population identifying as Spanish speaking.

Despite the fact that there are many Spanish speaking countries, it’s important to keep in mind that there are also a multitude Spanish dialects throughout the world. The “flavor” of Spanish spoken in each of these countries may be subtly or drastically different.

Map of Spanish-speaking countries

Here is a blank map of the various Spanish speaking countries with spaces to fill the name in. This is perfect for a geography quiz for your students.

Blank map of Spanish speaking countries

Next up, practice your pronunciation with this list of Spanish tongue twisters to practice.
What do you call the fingers in Spanish?

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List of Spanish-speaking countries and their capitals

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Here are a number of Spanish-speaking countries that you have to choose from for your adventure.

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