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The Importance of the Spanish language

Spanish in figures...

• Spanish is the world's 3rd most spoken language, after Chinese and English, and ranks 2nd in terms of native speakers.
• At the end of the 19th century, 60 million people were Spanish speakers. Today, nearly 500 million people across the world speak Spanish!
• Spanish is the mother tongue of approximately 350 million people in 21 countries, and is widely spoken in another 21 countries where it is not an official language.
• Spanish is the second most used language in international communication, and an official language of the UN and its organizations.

Economic Indicators...

• 29 million US residents above the age of 5 speak Spanish at home. That's approximately 1 of every 10 US residents.
• The US Hispanic population has grown by 60% in just one decade. The buying power of US Hispanics is expected to exceed $926 million by 2007.
• The dramatic growth in the Spanish language and Spanish speaking populations has sparked world wide demand for Spanish language radio, newspapers, and other media. In 2004, for example, China launched a Spanish television channel.
• The Latin American countries are experiencing strong economic growth and they are becoming important commercial partners.
• Newly created Mercosur and the existing free trade agreements between South American nations and North America (ALADI, CACM, NAFTA, and G3) are expected to bring further growth to Latin American economies.

Cultural indicators...

Sources:
Instituto Cervantes, Anuario Español en el Mundo 1999-2001. http://cvc.cervantes.es/
La Vanguardia http://www.lavanguardia.es/
The Economist http://www.economist.com/