English-speaking world facts for kids

This map shows countries where English is an official language.      Anglosphere countries, where English is the main native language.      Countries where English is an official majority language.      Countries where English is an official minority language.      Countries where English is co-official and a majority language.      Countries where English is co-official and a minority language.      Countries where English is unofficial.      Countries where English is not an official majority language.      Countries where English is not an official minority language.

English is a very popular language around the world! About 330 to 360 million people speak English as their first language. The United States has the most native English speakers, with about 258 million people. This means most native English speakers are Americans.

Many other countries also have millions of native English speakers. These include the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (25.1 million), the Republic of Ireland (4.7 million), and New Zealand (4.9 million). English is also an official language in many other places.

In the European Union, English is one of 24 official languages. It is used a lot by official groups and by many people as a second language. English is the third most spoken language by native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

If you include people who speak English as a second language, the numbers jump! Some guess it's around 470 million, while others say over 1 billion. One expert, David Crystal, found that in 2003, there were three times more non-native speakers than native speakers. When you count both native and non-native speakers, English is the most widely spoken language on Earth!

There are many different kinds of English, like British English, American English, Canadian English, Australian English, Irish English, and New Zealand English. Countries like South Africa, India, the Philippines, Jamaica, and Nigeria also have millions of native speakers. In these places, English can range from local dialects to standard English.

India is now thought to be the world's second-largest English-speaking country. About 10% of its population, or 125 million people, speak English. This is second only to the U.S. and is expected to grow even more.

Countries Where Most People Speak English

     The Anglosphere - Countries where English is spoken natively by the majority of the population.

There are six large countries where most people speak English as their native language. These are sometimes called the Anglosphere. They include:

• The United States (at least 231 million speakers)
• The United Kingdom (60 million speakers)
• Canada (at least 20 million speakers)
• Australia (at least 17 million speakers)
• The Republic of Ireland (4.8 million speakers)
• New Zealand (4.8 million speakers)

English is also the main native language in many smaller countries and territories. These include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Guyana, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Other large groups of native English speakers live in South Africa (4.8 million) and Nigeria (4 million).

Countries Where English is an Official Language

In some countries, English is an official language, even if it's not the most spoken language. This often happened because of British or American colonization. These countries include:

• Botswana
• Cameroon (co-official with French)
• Eswatini
• Fiji
• Ghana
• Hong Kong (part of China)
• India
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Malta
• The Marshall Islands
• Mauritius
• The Federated States of Micronesia
• Namibia
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• the Philippines
• Rwanda
• Saint Lucia
• Samoa
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• The Solomon Islands
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

English is also a co-official language in parts of other countries, like San Andrés y Providencia in Colombia and the Mosquito Coast in Nicaragua.

India has the most people who speak English as a second language. Some experts believe that India has more people who speak or understand English than any other country. Pakistan also uses English as a second official language, after Urdu. This is because of British rule. Sri Lanka and the Philippines also use English as an official language, along with their other main languages.

In South Africa, English is one of eleven official languages that all have equal importance. English is also an official language in territories that belong to Australia (like Norfolk Island) and the United States (like American Samoa and Puerto Rico, where it's co-official with Spanish).

The United States federal government doesn't have an official language. However, 32 of the 50 US states have made English their official language. Also, to become a citizen of the U.S., you usually need to pass a basic English test.

English is also very important in many former British colonies and areas that were once protected by the UK. These include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cyprus, and the United Arab Emirates.

English as a Global Language

     Countries and territories where English is the first language for most people.
     Countries and territories where English is an official language, but not the main language for most people.

Because English is spoken so widely, it's often called a "world language" or the common language of our time. Even though it's not official in most countries, it's the language most often taught to people learning a foreign language.

English is also the official language for talking in airplanes and on ships around the world. It's one of the official languages of the United Nations and many other international groups, like the International Olympic Committee. Astronauts on the International Space Station also use English as one of their two official languages (the other is Russian).

In the European Union, English is the most studied language. In 2012, 67% of Europeans thought English was the most useful foreign language. In some non-English-speaking EU countries, a high percentage of adults could speak English in 2012:

• 90% in the Netherlands
• 89% in Malta
• 86% in Sweden and Denmark
• 73% in Cyprus, Croatia, and Austria
• 70% in Finland
• Over 50% in Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Germany

Overall, in 2012, 38% of Europeans (not counting native speakers) felt they could speak English.

Books, magazines, and newspapers in English are available everywhere. English is also the most used language in science. In 1997, 95% of science articles were written in English, even though only half of the authors were from English-speaking countries.

In publishing, English books are very common. About 28% of all books published worldwide are in English. In 2011, 30% of all content on the internet was in English.

This growing use of English around the world has changed many other languages. Sometimes, it can even cause other languages to be used less or disappear. English itself is also always changing as different regional versions influence the language as a whole.

Images for kids

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  A monument in London celebrating English-speaking peoples.

See also

In Spanish: Anglofonía para niños