English-speaking Countries

In today’s article we’ll talk about the main English speaking countries in the world, whether as an official language or not. English is a language spoken by a little more than 1 billion people worldwide! In 2021, there were an estimated 1.35 billion English speakers. The second most popular language was Chinese, with 1.12 billion Chinese speakers. 

English is a language that enables a large worldwide connection of speakers. Due to cultural and historical interventions, it is very difficult to define all of the English-speaking countries as the official language, because making a language the official language of a country is a political decision, rather than an accurate depiction of how many speakers live in that country. For example, there is no official language of the United States, even though the vast majority of U.S. residents speak English. 

On the other side of the coin, many countries have English as their official language, even though another language is used more commonly. For example, English is one of the official languages of Cameroon, but 83% of Cameroonians are francophones, meaning they communicate in French, among other languages. 

What are the English speaking countries in the world? 

This is a list that provides a general idea of where English is commonly spoken. English is not the only language spoken in these countries, but it does provide a general idea where English is spoken by a significant portion of the population. This list didactically divided into continents.

Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius,  Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe .

America: United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Guyana,  Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Christopher and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Asia: India, Philippines, and Singapore.

Europe: Malta, Ireland and United Kingdom.

Oceania: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands,  Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Paula, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Which countries speak English as the official language (by law)?

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Botswana
• The British Virgin Islands
• Cameroon
• Canada (except Quebec)
• Cayman Islands
• Dominica
• England
• Fiji
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Ireland, Northern
• Ireland, Republic of
• Jamaica
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Malawi
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Montserrat
• Namibia
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Papua New Guinea
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Scotland
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Solomon Islands
• South Africa
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• The Turks and Caicos Islands
• Uganda
• United Kingdom
• Vanuatu
• Wales
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

English is widely used as the official language of the European Union and many Commonwealth countries, as well as many other organizations worldwide. It is the third most spoken language in the world as a first language, after Mandarin and Spanish, according to Ethnologue: Languages ​​of the World. English is also among the official languages ​​of the United Nations – UN. There are six official languages ​​used by the UN English, French, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Arabic and Russian.

Which of the English speaking countries would you like to visit? Tell us more about it here in the comments we’d love to share experiences with you. If you have any questions about the content presented here, you can contact us in the comments and Instagram  @studyenglishwithandrea

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Sources:

https://excellentglobal.com.br/2018/05/11/voce-sabe-quais-sao-os-paises-que-falam-ingles/ 

https://www.intercultural.com.br/paises-que-falam-ingles/

https://www.ie.com.br/intercambio/paises-que-falam-ingles/

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnologue

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_de_l%C3%ADnguas_por_n%C3%BAmero_total_de_falantes 

Until next time, Happy Learning!