Some facts about the Spanish Language

The Spanish language is the most widely spoken Romance language, both in terms of number of speakers and the number of countries in which it is the dominant language.

There are more than 400 million Spanish speakers worldwide. Pronunciation and usage of the spoken Spanish language naturally vary among countries, but regional differences are not so great as to make the language unintelligible to speakers from different areas. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a single spoken "Spanish". There are different Spanish dialects because of the evolution of the Spanish language in different regions.

The Importance of Spanish Today

The Spanish-speaking population is one of the fastest growing segments in the world, especially in the United States. The Spanish-speaking segment constitutes a huge community that shares products, services, and culture, offering businesses and institutions a truly unique growth opportunity. Here are some important facts regarding the Spanish language:

• Spanish, the official language in twenty-one countries, is the third most widely-spoken language in the world, after English and Mandarin.
• More than 400 million people speak Spanish worldwide.
• Experts predict that by the year 2050, there will be 530 million Spanish speakers, of which 100 million will be living in the United States.

Hence, as you can imagine, the demand for having documents and communications in Spanish is growing at exponential rates. This is especially true in the United States where the Hispanic population has recently become the largest minority in the country.

U.S. Hispanic Market

The largest minority group in the United States is Hispanics. U.S. Hispanics have become not only a powerful group in terms of buying power, but also represent a key demographic group for national, state and local politics. The U.S. Hispanic vote can shift the results of a presidential election. In particular, Florida, whose population is comprised of over 20% Hispanics, has typically been a swing state in the last three crucial presidential elections.