The English language around the world © 2007 Sergio Viñals Lucas – Adapted for NI-1 students

Countries with the most English language speakers 1. USA: 237 M 2. UK: 58 M 3. Canada: 18 M 4. Australia: 15.5 M 5. Ireland: 3.7 M 6. South Africa: 3.7 M. 7. New Zealand: 3.3 M 8. Jamaica: 2.5 M 9. Trinidad & Tobago: 1.25 M 10. Guyana: 0.76 M

English in Europe United Kingdom England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and colonies (Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Okney and Shetland). English is spoken by about 98% of the population (about 58,000,000 people) Gibraltar Also a British colony. English is spoken by the 35% of the population (about 10,800 people). Republic of Ireland Spoken by more than 3,700,000 people (about 85% of the population). Malta English is the native language of about 70,600 people, 20% of the population.

English in America United States of America : English is the native language of about 88% (237 million people) of the population. Canada: English (along with French) is the official language. 60% of the population speaks English, about 18,000,000 people. Guyana : Used to be a Crown Colony (until 1966). English is native here for 75% of the population (765,000 people). Belize Among other languages, English is spoken by 65% of the population (123,000 people). Bermuda: A dependent territory of the UK . English is native here for 95% (56,000 people). Falkland Islands : Also a dependent territory of the UK , where English is the native language. Other Caribbean islands English is also spoken in other Caribbean islands.

English in Asia India : Besides English and Hindi, which is the primary tongue of 30%, there are several official languages (e.g. Urdu, Punjabi, Sanskrit). Most of them are mutually unintelligible, that is why English has an important role in national, political and commercial communication. Pakistan : English is the official language, the lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries. Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi and Pashtu are official as well, and Balochi and other languages are spoken. Hong Kong : Became independent from Britain in 1997. English and Chinese are the official languages. Singapore Gained final independence from Britain in 1965. English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil all official languages, and Malay is national. Philippines Gained independence from the US in 1946. English and Philippino are official, but Spanish and Visajan are spoken as well.

English in Australia and Oceania Australia The British "prison island”, where English is the native language of about 90% (15.5 million people). Other native languages of the aborigines are spoken as well. New Zealand Became independent in 1907. Besides English (first language of 93% - 3 million people), Maori is the language of the aborigines. English co-exists with other languages in the following islands: Cook Islands Fiji Kiribati Nauru Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands Tuvalu Vanuatu Western Samoa

English in Africa South Africa The two main official languages are English and Afrikaans. English is the first language of only 10% of the population (about 3,700,000) Nigeria English is official and spoken as a first language by about 50% of the population. Liberia is the country where liberated slaves from the US were settled from 1822. It has been an independent country since 1847. English is the native tongue of about the 96% of the population. English co-exists with other languages in other former British colonies in Africa: