The English language is the third most spoken in the world, with 380 million native speakers across the globe.
Many ambitious people learn English because it is considered one of the most important in the business world.
An increased knowledge of the language greatly increases career prospects, including getting a good job in a multinational company or finding work abroad.
English is most commonly associated with the United States and the United Kingdom, the largest English-speaking countries. Some 230 million English speakers are in the United States, making it the largest English-speaking country. The UK has about 60 million native speakers.
Canada has the third largest English-speaking population despite having two main languages, the other being French, with somewhere in the region of 20 million native speakers. Australia has around 17 million.
Other predominantly English-speaking countries include the Republic of Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand. These three countries combined are believed to be home to around 13 million people who hold it as their first language.
Britain pioneered the English language and its rapidly expanding Empire increased its global presence during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Many countries where English is an official language were former British colonies outside of Europe, including Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United States.
Despite not being the mother tongue, English is widely spoken in India and parts of Africa.
It remains an official language in India, although Hindi is by far the most widely spoken. Officially, just 12% of Indian residents speak English, with many only speaking it as a second language.
India still has one of the largest English-speaking populations on the planet due to the vast amount of people that live in the country.
The further expansion of the English language throughout the 20th century is largely thanks to the superpower of the United States.
Many non-native English language speakers use films to learn the lingo. In fact, America’s Hollywood influence and the journalistic work of the British Broadcasting Corporation are how the language was able to spread far and wide throughout the century.
Read the full list of 36 “official” English-speaking countries below.
