Talk:List of countries and territories where Spanish is an official language

Gabon and Puerto Rico
La tabla contiene un país africano donde el español no es idioma oficial (Gabón) La tabla no recoge a Puerto Rico cuyos idiomas oficiales son español e inglés.

Spanish is official in Gabon (in Cocobeach). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.198.58.24 (talk) 19:26, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Massive Revert
Recently, there was someone who made some massive changes to the page, adding several countries to the box that says Spanish is an official language such as Belize, Andorra, U.S., and Gabon. Spanish is not the official language of any of these. There were also entities added such as Melilla, Ceuta, and even a place in Antarctica. To make things easier, I was going to just revert all edits, but I wanted to see if there were any changes that anyone else thought should be kept. Kman543210 (talk) 13:20, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

In Gabon (Cocobeach) and USA (Miami, New Mexico, another several cities of Texas, etc) Spanish is partially official.

Sorry, but New Mexico does not have any official language(s). Remove it from the map. Miami and other cities might print official documents in Spanish, but there is no official language in those cities either. Puerto Rico is the only place in the USA that has Spanish as an official language.

In Belize is a recognized regional lenguage. In Belize and Andorra is the most spoken language, and de facto, official. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.198.58.24 (talk) 23:41, 10 June 2008 (UTC)


 * You absolutely correct in what you said, but that does not make it an official language of the country. There is a difference between being declared an official language of one region and being an official language of the entire country. In Belize, English is the only official language even though as of the 2000 census, 43% speak Spanish (and about he same speak either Belizean Kriol or English).  I think it maybe important to mention some of the regional or state official declarations, but not at the country/nation level. As for Ceuta and Melilla, they are still part of the country Spain and are not independent countries; they're autonomous communities just like Catalonia, Galicia, and Valencia but happen to not be part of the Iberian peninsula (just like Hawaii is the U.S. but not on the mainland). The Canary Islands and Balearic Islands are autonomous communities of Spain not on the mainland, but they shouldn't be listed separately. Kman543210 (talk) 02:45, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Out of respect to the good-faith edits done, I decided not to do a massive revert and am cleaning up the article's accuracy piece by piece. Kman543210 (talk) 09:38, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I did some more research, and the U.S. state of New Mexico does not have any official language. I've removed this part from the article as well as Spanish being an official language of Miami, Florida for now because I couldn't find any sources. Spanish does have special recognition in states like New Mexico, California, and other Southwest states, but it is not official at the state level. Kman543210 (talk) 01:31, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I found out a little more about the situation in Gabon and the Spanish language. Gabon borders Equatorial Guinea in the west of Africa, and there is a border coastal town called Cocobeach that is now shared between the 2 countries. The official language of all of Gabon is French, but back in 2006, Spanish was made co-official just in the town of Cocobeach because it is now shared with Equatorial Guinea, which has Spanish as it's official language.  The population of the town is around 1,700, and I imagine that only a certain part of the inhabitants speak Spanish. Because it's only a small town that's shared with Equatorial Guinea, and that country's included, I'm not sure if it needs to be included. By the way, I can't verify any of this through sources, but I found it on the Spanish Wikipedia and have no reason to doubt it. Kman543210 (talk) 08:57, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I did some more work on Spanish-based creole section. I removed both Ladino and Chamorro, as they are not creole languages; Ladino is a Romance language closest to Spanish (also known as Judezmo), and Chamorro is an Astronesian language that has a lot of Spanish loan words (just like English has a lot of French loan words). Papamiento is actually categorized as a Portuguese-based creole, but some linguists say that it's either both or Spanish-based due to the more recent influence of Spanish.  I kept it in and added 2 references that support it being a Spanish- and Portuguese creole language.  I also added Palunquero from Colombia and added the estimated amount of speakers from Ethnoloque instead of just the populations of the countries. I'm learning a lot working on this page because out of all the years that I've spoken Spanish, I haven't taken the time learn about the creole languages. Kman543210 (talk) 12:24, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to remove both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago from the list of countries where Spanish is commonly spoken. When I looked up the numbers to verify, there are only a few thousand of each which is a very small percentage: Jamaica 0.3% and Trinidad and Tobago 0.4%. I couldn't find anything stating that Spanish is common in those countries. As for Morocco, the percentage is even smaller at 0.06%, but the total number given from Ethnologue is 20,000, so I'll leave it there for now (sources say many are 2nd language speakers and French is the major 2nd language rather than Spanish). As for the Western Sahara part, I'm not sure there is a strong showing of Spanish speakers in that section since most sources say the Spanish speakers are to the north in Morocco. It was Spanish territory at one time, but more research will have to be done to determine the extent which Spanish is currently spoken there. Kman543210 (talk) 05:51, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

TheDarkSavant (talk) 16:12, 9 October 2015 (UTC) While this revert took place 7 years ago, today 5% of Trinidad's population speak Spanish, and most government offices have signs in Spanish, in addition to English, so I firmly believe Trinidad has to be there. If you hit the official website of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, you will see an article on the growing use of Spanish on the islands - http://www.ttconnect.gov.tt/gortt/portal/ttconnect/!ut/p/a1/jdDBCoJAEAbgp_HqjIqR3TyYqUFoVLqXUDO1dFd0lR4_9SaWNTCHGb4fhgECPhAadnka8pzRsBhmsro6royqpSl4cFFD2bMkA1VHMT2pB8EEeOa2B4Yq7Zyzgoj_5fFL6T_zx4TCBcgis3EG5meOYOEOG0hasGj8SaDTSFmnQOrkntRJLbZ1v844r5qNgALe2vg5dMrEmJUCfopkrOHgTyVU5cl_WQ-16Pb6GyFokU8!/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/gortt/wcm/connect/GorTT%20Web%20Content/ttconnect/home/about+t+and+t/general+information/language

I'm restoring Trinidad into the list.

Brazil
12 million students of Spanish predicted makes it equal to 12 million speakers? Sorry for not being so optimistic about the Brazilian education system. Of course Portuguese language speakers have (even without studying) a big inteligibility of Spanish, but that doesn't make them Spanish speakers. I wonder if the Portuguese language students in Argentina and Chile count as Portuguese speakers as well... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.217.135.19 (talk) 18:55, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

New Discussion
A discussion has been started at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries/Lists of countries which could affect the inclusion criteria and title of this and other lists of countries. Editors are invited to participate. Pfainuk talk 11:16, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Nicaeagua and Dominican Republic
Spanush is the offical lenguage de facto of Nicaragua and Dominican Republic, per articles 11 and 29 of their respective constitutions. --Andresisrael (talk) 18:57, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Other countries
Why doesn't the article mention Argentina, Mexico, or Chile? Or Nicaragua and Uruguay and Dominican Republic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jjjhein (talk • contribs) 14:38, 14 October 2013
 * These countries are listed in the #De facto official and national language section, as they don't have Spanish as their official language (though they do speak it). Si Br4  &#9873; 20:30, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Map of countries where Spanish is the official language
The has been a variant on the map currently being used to depict the countries, but another map was introduced a couple of days ago, then reverted.

I've checked both files at Wiki Commons: and. The latter bears a legend indicating where it is the first language in dark green, and where it is a second language in a lighter green.

As neither provide WP:V and WP:RS for the maps, they are both speculative/specious. I'm going to query both versions on Wiki Commons. Obviously, at least one or the other has to deleted - possibly both. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 03:02, 16 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Maybe we should delete them both. In my opinion, it is good that Eddo tried to make some svg maps to replace the raster, but they are quite un-accurate as I see myself. Bolivia and Paraguay are both equally bilingual, and Spanish is not "another language". Western Sahara is not fully independent. So these maps probably wouldn't work after all. Maybe this is a good alternative map, and it has been edited by Kwami, so I think it is a good fit. Viller the Great (talk) 06:22, 16 February 2014 (UTC) Countries with Spanish as an official language.svg


 * Yeah, AFAICT it's accurate, though I would change the US to individual states, so it doesn't look like Spanish is official in Alaska and Hawaii. — kwami (talk) 06:51, 16 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, I've nominated them both for deletion at Wiki Commons on the grounds that they are unsourced (both only claiming 'own work' as their sources). You might both want to comment on the deletions at the links provided above in my initial comment. I'd say it's better not to have a map in any shape or form that is misleading, so if both need to be deleted... It could also be an opportunity to decide on how the regions should be depicted - according to sources and consensus here - if an accurate map is to be created. Visual references are an excellent idea when they're actually accurate representations.


 * would you agree that kwami's version is a good representation? Even if it is a fair representation, but possiblly needs a little more tweak cbching, would it be the best choice fobe used in the article at tUser:Iryna Harpy|Iryna HarpJust y]] ([[User talUTC)


 * Rather than Puerto Rico as blue, and the rest of the US as pink, I made PR and New Mexico blue. However, New Mexico is not included in this article (and it was the only reason the US was pink).  I guess there's debate over whether Spanish is official in NM, so perhaps we should decide whether it should be on the map or not.  AFAIK, the other countries are not problematic.  — kwami (talk) 10:15, 16 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Now it is much more accurate. Taking New Mexico into account is good, since it is bilingual. Puerto Rico should be colored in as blue, as it is bilingual, so this map is a good representation of the Hispanosphere. It is a fair map. Good job kwami. Viller the Great (talk) 17:44, 16 February 2014 (UTC)
 * I'd also agree that it is a good representation (bearing in mind that 'official' is to be understood as a legal term as per Switzerland, Belarus, Singapore, etc. It would probably be a good idea to add references to the with Spanish as an official language.svg the file on Wiki Commons in order that, as the other files are deleted, a redirect to this file is put in place as being a WP:V/WP:RS map. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 21:05, 16 February 2014 (UTC)


 * The map misrepresents Mexico as Spanish is not official there, but only a legally co-official National language with 63 indigenous languages.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 07:54, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Philippines
Spanish has the status of "optional language" in the whole territory. Does that mean it is an official language in the country? Well, for sure if it wouldn´t have any recognation of officiality they would just not mention the language in any status. We can talk then of a "weak co-officiality" or "secondary co-officiality" but a co-officiality anyway. --BernardaAlba (talk) 14:10, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

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SAR
Can someone please add the Sahrawi Arab republic to the map and list? J43437 (talk) 23:20, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Name change
The next natural move for this page is to change its name to Geographical distribution of the Spanish language. Any thoughts? --Jotamar (talk) 17:22, 13 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I've just realized that we might be duplicating contents with Hispanophone. What should we do? --Jotamar (talk) 17:57, 13 September 2017 (UTC)
 * With no feedback, I won't change the name for the moment. --Jotamar (talk) 18:17, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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Requested move 27 April 2020

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: There was no consensus to move to any particular target, and the RM has been superseded by a later one. Kahastok talk 16:13, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

(non-admin closure)

List of countries where Spanish is an official language → List of territorial entities where Spanish is an official language – This article list all territorial entities where Spanish is an official language, instead of just the countries where Spanish is an official language. Soumyabrata stay at home 🏠 wash your hands 👋 to protect from COVID-19 😷 08:27, 27 April 2020 (UTC) —Relisting. buidhe 21:59, 5 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Even "territorial entities" is inaccurate, as the article also lists organisations that use Spanish officially.94.21.253.28 (talk) 00:56, 28 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Suggestion: List of Spanish-speaking countries and territories? Unreal7 (talk) 10:34, 30 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose - The only problem is that PR is listed as if it were its own entity, instead of listing the United States and specifying that this is only the case in Puerto Rico. Red   Slash  22:59, 2 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Move to List of countries and territories where Spanish is an official language. Shhhhwwww!! (talk) 09:33, 4 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Move to List of places where Spanish is an official language, or just leave it alone. The proposed name seems somewhat awkward. —BarrelProof (talk) 03:49, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Move to List of countries and territories where Spanish is an official language. Rreagan007 (talk) 20:40, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Move to Spanish as an official language which covers it all and enables us to cover the history and other aspects as well. Love —LiliCharlie (talk) 16:36, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Support move to List of territorial entities where Spanish is an official language and clean out organizations and such.★Trekker (talk) 17:02, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
 * LOL have fun with this one, whoever closes it Red   Slash  00:57, 20 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Note This RM is partially duplicated by Talk:List of territorial entities where Afrikaans and Dutch are official languages. CMD (talk) 09:41, 23 May 2020 (UTC)


 * The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


 * I have closed this RM because it is causing chaos with the bots. Please feel free to comment on the ongoing RM at Talk:List_of_territorial_entities_where_Afrikaans_and_Dutch_are_official_languages. Kahastok talk 16:14, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of territorial entities where Afrikaans and Dutch are official languages which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 09:02, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of territorial entities where Afrikaans and Dutch are official languages which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 17:48, 25 May 2020 (UTC)

Orphaned references in List of countries where Spanish is an official language
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of List of countries where Spanish is an official language's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "Rouchdy71": From Morocco:  From Languages of Morocco:  

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 06:08, 25 July 2020 (UTC)