English language distribution
  Majority native language
  Official or administrative language, but not native language

The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories where English is either an official, administrative, or cultural language. As of the 2000s, between one billion to two billion people globally speak English,[1][2] making it the largest language by number of speakers, and the third largest language by number of native speakers, as well as the most geographically widespread language. The regions where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population, due to cultural connections to England, are termed "the Anglosphere". Speakers of English are called Anglophones.

England and the Scottish Lowlands, countries of the United Kingdom, are the birthplace of the English language, and 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 contexts such as science, navigation and law.[3]

The United States and India have the most total English speakers, with 306 million and 265 million, respectively. These are followed by Pakistan (104 million), the United Kingdom (68 million), and Nigeria (60 million).[4] As of 2022, there were about 400 million native speakers of English.[5] When factoring in those who speak English as a second language, estimates of the total number of Anglophones vary greatly, from 1.5 billion to 2 billion.[2] David Crystal calculates that as of 2003 non-native speakers outnumbered native speakers by a ratio of 3:1.[6]

Besides the major varieties of English, namely American, 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 if it is not the native language of the majority of the population.

Majority English-speaking countries

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";[7][8][9] they are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, 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.[10]

While English is also spoken by a majority of people as a second language in a handful of countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, 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.[11]

Countries where English is an official language

English is an official language (de facto and de jure) of the following countries and territories.[12]

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, such as Bahrain, Brunei, Egypt, Kuwait, Malaysia Qatar, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.

English as a global language

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "world language", the lingua franca of the modern era,[13] and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language.[6][14] It is, by international treaty, the official language for aeronautical[15] and maritime[16] 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.

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). Among some of the non-English-speaking EU countries, the following percentages of the adult population 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.[17]

Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences[13] 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] and 30% of web content in 2011 (down from 50% in 2000).[14]

This increasing use of the English language globally has had a large impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and even language death,[18] and to claims of linguistic imperialism. English itself has become more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Crystal, David (2004). The language revolution. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-745-63313-8.
  2. 1 2 Crystal, David (2008). "Two thousand million?". English Today. 24: 3–6. doi:10.1017/S0266078408000023. S2CID 145597019.
  3. ↑ The Routes of English.
  4. ↑ English Archived 2023-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, Ethnologue, Dallas, Texas: SIL International., 2022.
  5. ↑ "What are the top 200 most spoken languages?". Ethnologue. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-06-18. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  6. 1 2 Crystal, David (2003). English as a Global Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-521-53032-3. Archived from the original on 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  7. ↑ Mycock, Andrew; Wellings, Ben (July 2019). "The UK after Brexit: Can and Will the Anglosphere Replace the EU?" (PDF). Cicero Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2020. ...the core Anglosphere states – the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand...
  8. ↑ Vucetic, Srdjan (2011). The Anglosphere: A Genealogy of a Racialized Identity in International Relations. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804772242.
  9. ↑ 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;
  10. ↑ Lloyd, John (2000). "The Anglosphere Project". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "Field Listing - Languages". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  13. 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.
  14. 1 2 Northrup 2013.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases". International Maritime Organization. Archived from the original on 27 December 2003.
  17. ↑ European Commission (June 2012). Special Eurobarometer 386: Europeans and Their Languages (PDF) (Report). Eurobarometer Special Surveys. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-07. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  18. ↑ David Crystal (2000) Language Death, Preface; viii, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  19. ↑ Jambor, Paul Z. (April 2007). "English Language Imperialism: Points of View". Journal of English as an International Language. 2: 103–123. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2014-06-16.

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English and Diplomacy
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