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English-speaking world

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This article is about countries around the world that use English. For countries with cultural and linguistic connections to England, seeAnglosphere.

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

TheEnglish-speaking worldcomprises the 88 countries and territories in whichEnglishis an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English,[1][2]making it thelargest language by number of speakers,thethird largest language by number of native speakersand the most widespread language geographically. The countries in which English is the native language of most people are sometimes termed theAnglosphere.Speakers of English are calledAnglophones.

Early Medieval Englandwas the birthplace of the English language; themodern form of the languagehas 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 theUnited States.Through all types of printed and electronic media of these countries, English has become theleading languageof international discourse andthe lingua francain many regions and professional fields, such asscience,navigationandlaw.[3]

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

Besides the majorvarieties of English—American,British,Canadian,Australian,Irish,New Zealand English—and their sub-varieties, countries such asSouth Africa,India,Nigeria,thePhilippines,Singapore,Jamaica,andTrinidad and Tobagoalso have millions of native speakers ofdialect continuaranging fromEnglish-based creole languagestoStandard English.Other countries and territories, such asGhana,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 theCommonwealth of Nations.[8]

Majority English-speaking countries

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Main articles:List of countries by English-speaking populationandAnglosphere
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 theUnited States,theUnited Kingdom,Canada,Australia,andNew Zealand.

The term "Anglosphere" can sometimes be extended to include other countries and territories where English or anEnglish Creolelanguage is also the primary native language and English is the primary language of government and education, such asIreland,Gibraltar,and theCommonwealth Caribbean.[12]

While English is also spoken by a majority of people as a second language in a handful of countries such asDenmark,theNetherlands,NorwayandSweden,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 where English is an official language

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Main article:List of countries and territories where English is an official language

English is anofficial language(de factoorde jure) of the following countries and territories.[14]

Although not official, English is also an important language in some former colonies andprotectoratesof theBritish Empirewhere it is used as anadministrative language,namelyBrunei,Malaysia,andSri Lanka.

English as a global language

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See also:English in computing,International English,World Englishes,World language,English as a second or foreign language,Englishisation,andEuro English

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been called a "world language",thelingua francaof the modern era,[15]and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as aforeign 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 theUnited Nationsand many other international organizations, including theInternational Olympic Committee.It is also one of two co-official languages for astronauts (besides the Russian language) serving on board theInternational Space Station.[citation needed]

The English language has aparticular significancein 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 asCommonwealth English,most often interchangeably withBritish English.[21]

English is studied most often in theEuropean Union,and the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages among Europeans is 67% in favour of English, ahead of 17% forGermanand 16% forFrench(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]withScience Citation Indexreporting 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 tolanguage shiftandlanguage death,[23]and to claims oflinguistic imperialism.[citation needed]English itself has become more open to language shift as multipleregional varietiesfeed back into the language as a whole.[24]

References

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  1. ^Crystal, David (2004).The language revolution.John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-0-745-63313-8.
  2. ^abCrystal, David (2008)."Two thousand million?".English Today.24:3–6.doi:10.1017/S0266078408000023.S2CID145597019.
  3. ^The Routes of English.
  4. ^"How many Indians can you talk to?".hindustantimes.Retrieved2024-07-27.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^EnglishArchived2023-03-09 at theWayback Machine,Ethnologue,Dallas, Texas: SIL International., 2022.
  6. ^"What are the top 200 most spoken languages?".Ethnologue.2022.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-06-18.Retrieved2023-05-13.
  7. ^abCrystal, David(2003).English as a Global Language(2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 69.ISBN978-0-521-53032-3.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-04-15.Retrieved2023-03-19.
  8. ^Mufwene, Salikoko S. (2016-03-14)."English: the Empire is dead. Long live the Empire".The Conversation.Retrieved2024-06-12.
  9. ^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...
  10. ^Vucetic, Srdjan (2011).The Anglosphere: A Genealogy of a Racialized Identity in International Relations.Stanford University Press.ISBN9780804772242.
  11. ^Gregg, Samuel (17 February 2020)."Getting Real About the Anglosphere".Law & Liberty.Archivedfrom 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.Archivedfrom the original on 13 December 2015.Retrieved30 November2012.
  13. ^"The Anglosphere and its Others: The 'English-speaking Peoples' in a Changing World Order – British Academy".British Academy.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-04-22.Retrieved2023-05-20.
  14. ^"Field Listing - Languages".The World Factbook.Central Intelligence Agency.Retrieved2023-07-16.
  15. ^abDavid Graddol(1997)."The Future of English?"(PDF).The British Council. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 19 February 2007.Retrieved15 April2007.
  16. ^abNorthrup 2013.
  17. ^"ICAO Promotes Aviation Safety by Endorsing English Language Testing".International Civil Aviation Organization. 13 October 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 29 June 2014.Retrieved16 June2014.
  18. ^"IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases".International Maritime Organization. Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2003.
  19. ^"About Us".thecommonwealth.org.The Commonwealth.Archivedfrom the original on 10 September 2022.Retrieved25 March2024.
  20. ^"Joining the Commonwealth".Commonwealth.Archivedfrom the original on 7 March 2022.Retrieved2022-03-27.
  21. ^"Commonwealth English".Oxford English Dictionary.Retrieved7 May2024.
  22. ^European Commission (June 2012).Special Eurobarometer 386: Europeans and Their Languages(PDF)(Report). Eurobarometer Special Surveys. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2015-02-07.Retrieved12 February2015.
  23. ^David Crystal (2000) Language Death, Preface; viii, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  24. ^Jambor, Paul Z. (April 2007)."English Language Imperialism: Points of View".Journal of English as an International Language.2:103–123.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-09-25.Retrieved2014-06-16.

Bibliography

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Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 March 2013)."2011 Census QuickStats: Australia".Archived fromthe originalon 6 November 2015.Retrieved25 March2015.
Afhan Meytiyev (26 September 2013)."English and diplomacy"(PDF).Scotland's Census 2011.Retrieved25 March2020.
Bao, Z. (2006). "Variation in Nonnative Varieties of English". In Brown, Keith (ed.).Encyclopedia of language & linguistics.Elsevier. pp. 377–380.doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04257-7.ISBN978-0-08-044299-0.
Crystal, David (19 November 2004b)."Subcontinent Raises Its Voice".The Guardian.Retrieved4 February2015.
Crystal, David (2006). "Chapter 9: English worldwide". In Denison, David; Hogg, Richard M. (eds.).A History of the English language.Cambridge University Press. pp.420–439.ISBN978-0-511-16893-2.
National Records of Scotland (26 September 2013)."Census 2011: Release 2A".Scotland's Census 2011.Retrieved25 March2015.
"The Routes of English".1 August 2015.
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (11 December 2012)."Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland December 2012"(PDF).Statistics Bulletin.Table KS207NI: Main Language.Retrieved16 December2014.
Northrup, David (20 March 2013).How English Became the Global Language.Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-1-137-30306-6.
Office for National Statistics (4 March 2013)."Language in England and Wales, 2011".2011 Census Analysis.Retrieved16 December2014.
Ryan, Camille (August 2013)."Language Use in the United States: 2011"(PDF).American Community Survey Reports.p. 1. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-02-05.Retrieved16 December2014.
Statistics Canada (22 August 2014)."Population by mother tongue and age groups (total), 2011 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories".Archived fromthe originalon Sep 23, 2015.Retrieved25 March2015.
Statistics New Zealand (April 2014)."2013 QuickStats About Culture and Identity"(PDF).p. 23. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 15 January 2015.Retrieved25 March2015.
Census 2011: Census in brief(PDF).Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. 2012. Table 2.5 Population by first language spoken and province (number).ISBN9780621413885.Archived(PDF)from the original on 13 May 2015.
English and Diplomacy
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