http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/29/us-second-biggest-spanish-speaking-country/

US now has more Spanish speakers than Spain – only Mexico has more
US has 41 million native speakers plus 11 million who are bilingual
New Mexico, California, Texas and Arizona have highest concentrations

Monday 29 June 2015 13.12 EDT Last modified on Monday 29 June 2015 13.36 EDT

The United States is now the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico, according to a new study published by the prestigious Instituto Cervantes.

The report says there are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the US plus a further 11.6 million who are bilingual, mainly the children of Spanish-speaking immigrants. This puts the US ahead of Colombia (48 million) and Spain (46 million) and second only to Mexico (121 million).

Among the sources cited in the report is the US Census Office which estimates that the US will have 138 million Spanish speakers by 2050, making it the biggest Spanish-speaking nation on Earth, with Spanish the mother tongue of almost a third of its citizens.

By state the highest concentration is in the former Spanish colonies of the south and south-west, with New Mexico top at 47%, followed by California and Texas (both 38%) and Arizona (30%). Some 18% of New Yorkers speak Spanish while only 1.3% of West Virginians do. Perhaps surprisingly, more than 6% of Alaskans are Spanish speakers.

The report, El español, una lengua viva – Spanish, a living language – estimates that there are 559 million Spanish speakers worldwide, a figure that includes 470 million native speakers and those with some command of the language.

The Instituto Cervantes was established in 1991 to promote the Spanish language abroad and last year had more than 200,000 students registered on its courses. It estimates that 21 million people are currently studying Spanish and here, too, the US leads with 7.8 million learning the language, followed by Brazil and France.

The report adds that two-thirds of Spanish-linked GDP is generated in two areas: North America (US, Canada and Mexico) and the European Union.

Between them they account for 78% while Latin America only accounts for 22%. It calculates that altogether Spanish speakers contribute 9.2% of the world’s GDP.

The Index of Human Development ranks Spanish as the second most important language on earth, behind English but ahead of Mandarin. It is also the third most widely used language on the internet, although less than 8% of internet traffic is in Spanish. The report says that Spanish is the second most used language on Twitter in London and New York. It also comes second on Facebook, a long way behind English though well ahead of Portuguese, Facebook’s third language.

Our Country is how many times bigger than Spain?

Castilian Spanish has been spoken in what is now the US for over half a millenium. From Cordova, Alaska to Corcoran, Puerto Rico the wealth and depth of Castilian has existed despite repeated attempts by the federal government to eliminate and erase every single trace of the language in the country. Half a billion people speak the language natively in America (the western hemisphere). It would behoove monolingual English speaking US residents to appreciate the historical presence of Spanish and tolerate its presence if not wanting to learn it themselves. English and Castilian should be the official language of the US federal government. usa.gov , the official US government website, is already bilingual. It won't be farfetched to take this step.
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http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/us/spanish-speakers-united-states-spain/

I'm still trying to adapt to the phone recordings of press #1 or #2 for English. ( since the 70's or 80's).

But constantly being asked on forms, in a doctors office, emergency room, (virtually everywhere), " ARE YOU HISPANIC ? " ( for the last 6-8 years), is REALLY ANNOYING.
Especially when they already know me & have the forms " I" already filled out, in from of them.!
Is is a NEW law or requirement , that THEY MUST ASK ?
Do they think that a 55 year old woman in the suburbs suddenly woke up & said " I am NOT East European & Native , I am Puerto Rican today " ?

And WTF is this Ango Saxon thing ?
Doesn't anyone know anything about ethnic groups? Do they think that people who APPEAR WHITE TO THEM are ALL ANGLO SAXON ?

I want to tie a dictionary & an atlas around everyone's neck.

spain population 46.77 mill
usa population 318.9 mill

Me would "habla" that ^^^^^^^^

I assume she is Brazilian ? They are the most popular models. And are from Portugal * NON Hispanic *
Funny thing is, they are referred to by American media as " White Spanish "
Every Hispanic is " White Hispanic "
* Thank you King Ferrente' of SPAIN*

I laugh & laugh....

Sophia Vergara....Colombian....with an "O"

Ach.. a man with a dictionary & and an atlas. I love it

not exactly, there are also afro hispanics,,,

I love sophia, she is so funny, she has a banging body and a banging makeup artist too

And ALL Hispanics are Hispanics because there DNA, ancestors and original language are from SPAIN & they are WHITE.

They certainly got around & banged every NATIVE in sight.
* Which is why, I joked about King Ferrente' .. fertile little guy... *

There are more English speaking Chinese than Americans!

Oop! Off topic.

English should be the official language of the US.

My native language was Spanish and although I still speak Spanish when needed, my primary language has been English since I was 6 years old! I'm fluent in both languages but I use English the most!

Press 1 for English.....

Why?

the best way to explain it is the difference between white and mixed

when we say 'origin', a large population have 'origins' from more than one region,,, so although a small part of my 'origin' was from europe, its not enough to make me WHITE, by any standards,, instead I consider myself african american and others consider me 'black'

so to be a 'white' person , or a white hispanic, truly is a measure of the person and society's view of their FEATURES and which origins they most closely resemble

so that these two women, both with hispanic origins, are certainly not both the same race,,,

If they both are Hispanic yes they are from the same race - Spain = White.

Features = Face shape (look it up) *yes they are the same in the photos, same face shape & features *

You are only talking skin color (I am not) & modern minority slang with "White Hispanic ". Just because people use a term & it catches on, does not mean it is true.

Not all Hispanics consider themselves, white, black or other or just one group. (ck census reports).
The term for Hispanics is constantly misused by OUR government.

Just like East Indians do not all consider themselves ASIAN. (We see that in Mingle2 alot. Many put other).
They don't look Korean, do they ? They are not the same color, are they?
Fortunately people. can tell the difference between Korean and Chinese & Mongolian & Both/ ALL Indians...but they get LUMPED together, NOT by their choice, but by SCIENCE & GOVERNMENTS for paperwork. which is not skin color.
* People with the same Bio parents can have different skin color *

Race is origin & face features, head & body shape & which of the 7(? 5-7)hair types & DNA.. NOT COLOR



Hummm... maybe this is why all those receptionists keep asking people. They don't know what the hell they are looking at, or how to tell & don't take the time to read forms.
* Or they are just following orders to seperate people ... which is PROBABLY the case . In Ancient Rome people were asked if they were Christian, look what happened. Pre WWII people were asked if they were Jews, look what happened. *

Yes, Why ?

Si!

sigh,,

no, race is a category to group people by their ORIGINS,,,,since not all 'hispanics' have only origins in spain( each person is born of two people who may both have different 'origin' leaving several origins associated with that new life)

all hispanics are not of the 'white' race,, when people have origins that arent just in one region of the earth, they choose which culture they most identify with and society chooses which region they most closely resemble


therefore, hispanic could be a race if we only included those 'purebreds' with ONLY origins in one region of the world,, but for all those who have a more 'mixed' ancestral line,, who still wish to acknowledge the part that was european,,, and the culture of spanish speaking peoples, they can use hispanic as ethnicity(culture) and the traditional RACE categories to define race (region of origin)

I might sound stupid...but i have to ask...why are mexicans called hispanic? Isnt hispanic used to mean spaniard? Aren't south and central americans considered as latinos, for being a population in latin america..?

Actually both. My friend prefered Mexican because he was from Mexico.

All of this race talk I think people are forgetting the natives the Spain and others mingled with. They were more darker skinned. So no they aren't white.

As far as the language, their language has been changed over time that it has become their own dialect. Almost like Americans vs the English