Spanish language

Spanish—known as *español* or *castellano*—belongs to the Romance branch of the Indo-European language family. It grew out of the Vulgar Latin once spoken on the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in the historic Kingdom of Castile, located in north-central Spain. Today, it has around 519 million native speakers, mostly in the Americas and Spain, and roughly 636 million speakers overall when including those who learned it as a second language. It serves as the official language of 21 countries and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. By native speakers, Spanish is second only to Mandarin Chinese; overall, it ranks fourth after English, Mandarin, and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu). Among Romance languages, it is the most widely spoken. Mexico holds the largest population of native Spanish speakers.

Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance group, which emerged from various dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the Western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century. The oldest Latin writings showing traces of Spanish come from the mid-northern part of the peninsula, dating to the 9th century. The first systematic written use of the language occurred in Toledo, a key city of the Kingdom of Castile, during the 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period carried the language overseas, most notably to the Americas.

As a Romance language, Spanish descends from Latin. Roughly 75% of its modern vocabulary has Latin roots, including words borrowed from Ancient Greek through Latin. Alongside English and French, it is one of the most taught foreign languages worldwide. It is widely used in the humanities and social sciences. On the internet, Spanish ranks third by number of users (after English and Chinese) and second by number of websites (after English).

Many international organizations use Spanish as an official language, including the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the African Union.

**Name of the language and etymology**

**Name of the language**

In Spain and some other Spanish-speaking regions, the language is called not only *español* but also *castellano* (Castilian), a name that distinguishes it from other languages spoken in Spain—such as Galician, Basque, Asturian, Catalan/Valencian, Aragonese, Occitan, and others. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses *castellano* to define the state’s official language, contrasting it with *las demás lenguas españolas* (“the other Spanish languages”). Article III states: “Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. … The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities.” The Royal Spanish Academy, however, currently prefers *español* in its publications, though from 1713 to 1923 it used *castellano*. The *Diccionario panhispánico de dudas* notes that while the Academy favors *español*, both terms are considered synonymous and equally valid.

**Etymology**

*Castellano* comes from Castile (*Castilla* or archaic *Castiella*), the kingdom where the language first developed. The name Castile itself is thought to derive from *castillo* (“castle”). In the Middle Ages, the language spoken in Castile was generally called *Romance* and later *Lengua vulgar*. Over time, it gained a geographical label: *Romance castellano* (*romanz castellano*, *romanz de Castiella*), *lenguaje de Castiella*, and finally simply *castellano* as a noun.

The origin of *español* is less certain. The Royal Spanish Academy suggests it comes from the Occitan word *espaignol*, which in turn derives from Vulgar Latin *hispaniolus* (“of Hispania”), the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula. Another hypothesis, proposed by Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal, holds that the classical *hispanus* or *hispanicus* took the Vulgar Latin suffix *-one*, as happened with words like *bretón* (Breton) or *sajón* (Saxon).

**History**

Like other Romance languages, Spanish evolved from Vulgar Latin, which Romans brought to the Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War, starting in 210 BC. Before that, several Paleohispanic languages were spoken there—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages, others unrelated. These included Proto-Basque, Iberian, Lusitanian, Celtiberian, and Gallaecian.

The earliest documents showing traces of what would become modern Spanish date from the 9th century. During the Middle Ages and into the modern period, the most significant influences on Spanish vocabulary came from neighboring Romance languages: Mozarabic (Andalusi Romance), Navarro-Aragonese, Leonese, Catalan/Valencian, Portuguese, Galician, Occitan, and later French and Italian. Spanish also borrowed many words from Andalusi Arabic and a few from Basque. Additionally, numerous words entered the language from Latin through written texts and the Church’s liturgical language, drawn from both Classical Latin and later sources.