Spanish Speaking Countries in Europe
By: Antonia
Spanish, a romance language, belonging to the Indo-European family has over 480 million speakers as per Ethnologue, 2019. The Spanish speakers account for around 5.99% of the world population. Furthermore, it is the fourth most spoken language in the world.
Spanish is a powerful language with the second-highest number of native speakers. There are Spanish-speaking countries in Europe, then there is Spanish-speaking Latin America.
But is the Spanish spoken in Europe the same as the one in Latin America, or would you need Spanish translation services?
The European Country that Speaks Spanish - Spain!
While Spanish has a huge number of speakers, there is only one country that officially speaks the language - Spain.
Stretching across the area of 505,955 square kilometers, Spain is the second-largest country to be a part of the EU.
It also the fifth largest in Europe in terms of population with a magic number of 49 million. Not only does it have a great population, but life expectancy is also the highest second to only Japan, with 83 years at an average.
And to answer the question above, no you will not need translations. Even with the differences in dialects, you should get along just fine even with standard Spanish.
Spanish is Not the Only Official Language
While it makes sense for Spain to have Spanish as their official language, not only are other languages spoken in the country they are also the official languages.
And Spaniards are very appreciative if you learn a few basic words in the languages that they speak.
Other official languages spoken in Spain include Catalan, Galicia, and Basque.
Countries with Spanish Speakers in Europe
While there is only one country that speaks Spanish officially, there are other European countries that have native Spanish speakers even though it is not the official language.
There is, after all, a reason Spanish has the second largest number of native speakers.
Following are the countries and the native Spanish speakers there:
1. France
France has a population of about 66.99 Million as of 2019, out of which about 9.06% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
2. Portugal
Portugal has a population of about 10.31 Million as of 2019, out of which about 6.98 % of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
3. Italy
Italy has a population of about 60.59 Million as of 2019, out of which about 6.56% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
4. Sweden
Sweden has a population of about 9.995 Million as of 2019, out of which about 4.78% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
5. Ireland
Ireland has a population of about 4.784 Million as of 2019, out of which about 3.65% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
6. Denmark
Denmark has a population of about 5.749 Million as of 2019, out of which about 3.29% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
7. Netherlands
The Netherlands has a population of about 17.08 Million as of 2019, out of which about 3.24% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
8. Belgium
Belgium has a population of about 11.35 Million as of 2019, out of which about 3.19% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
9. Romania
Romania has a population of about 19.64 Million as of 2019, out of which about 2.54% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
10. Germany
Germany has a population of about 82.79 Million as of 2019, out of which about 2.5% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
11. Austria
Austria has a population of about 8.773 Million as of 2019, out of which about 2.45% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
12. Luxembourg
Luxembourg has a population of about 590,667 as of 2019, out of which about 2.43% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
13. Finland
Finland has a population of about 5.53 Million as of 2019, out of which about 2.39% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
14. Slovenia
Slovenia has a population of about 2.06 Million as of 2019, out of which about 2.25% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
15. Bulgaria
Bulgaria has a population of about 7.102 Million as of 2019, out of which about 1.28% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
16. Cyprus
Cyprus has a population of about 854,802 Million as of 2019, out of which about 1% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
17. Latvia
Latvia has a population of about 1.95 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.98% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
18. Greece
Greece has a population of about 10.77 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.88% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
19. Lithuania
Lithuania has a population of about 2.8 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.76% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
20. Malta
Malta has a population of about 460,297 as of 2019, out of which about 0.73% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
21. Poland
Poland has a population of about 38.43 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.68% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
22. Hungary
Hungary has a population of about 9.798 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.55% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
23. Slovakia
Slovakia has a population of about 5.435 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.41% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
24. Estonia
Estonia has a population of about 1.316 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.35% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
25. Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has a population of about 10.58 Million as of 2019, out of which about 0.25% of the people are native Spanish Speakers.
Conclusion
In Europe, Spain is the only country with Spanish as the official language. However, it is impossible that there not be any native speakers of the second most spoken language in any other country.
That is why you can find native speakers almost in every other country, even if the percentage is small.
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