(CNN Spanish) — The United Nations (UN) has special days to celebrate the multilingualism in the world and one of them is dedicated to the Spanish language.
Hay six official languages at the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, Spanish, French and Russian. Everyone has their memorial day; the one for Spanish is celebrated every April 23 (just like the one for English).
“On April 23, the ‘Spanish Language Day at the United Nations’ is celebrated to raise awareness among the staff of the Organization, and the world in general, regarding the history, culture and use of Spanish as an official language. The election of the day attends the anniversary of the death of the great genius of Spanish letters, Miguel de Cervantes. Coincidentally, the date of his death coincides with that of the most prestigious English playwright, William Shakespeare. Hence, both languages share the day”, the UN notes on its website.
The language has grown significantly in recent years, making it the second largest language in the world by number of native speakers (behind only Mandarin Chinese), according to the one and with him yearbook “Spanish in the world 2021” of the Cervantes Institute.
Likewise, the Cervantes Institute mentions that, in terms of the total number of speakers (which includes those who have the language as their mother tongue, those with limited proficiency, and students of the language), Spanish is the third language globally, with English and Mandarin Chinese ahead.
- According to him Cervantes Institutethe total number of Spanish speakers is greater than 591 million people (specifically, 591,775,964)
- Meanwhile, the number of native speakers of the language amounts to almost 493 million people (492,990,519)
And, in relation to this last piece of information, have you ever wondered what countries those native Spanish speakers are in? We present it to you below.
