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Like in the Netherlands, a high percentage of Flemish people speak English fluently, and in Wallonia, a lower percentage of people speak English (as it is the case in France), which brings down the total percentage. Israel. 7,303,000. 6,205,000.
The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, [ 1 ][ 2 ] making it the largest language by number of speakers, the third largest language by number of native speakers and the most ...
For example, English has about 450 million native speakers but, depending on the criterion chosen, can be said to have as many as two billion speakers. [2] There are also difficulties in obtaining reliable counts of speakers, which vary over time because of population change and language shift.
This influence of English has led to concerns about language death, [147] and to claims of linguistic imperialism, [148] and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and ...
The United States does not have an official language at the federal level, but the most commonly used language is English (specifically, American English), which is the de facto national language. In addition, 32 U.S. states out of 50 and all five U.S. territories have declared English as an official language.
As of 2024, there are 57 sovereign states and 28 non-sovereign entities where English is an official language. Many administrative divisions have declared English an official language at the local or regional level. Most states where English is an official language are former territories of the British Empire.
The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. [ 7 ] The English identity began with the Anglo-Saxons, when they were known as the Angelcynn, meaning race or tribe of the Angles.
The English language was introduced to the Americas by the arrival of the British, beginning in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.The language also spread to numerous other parts of the world as a result of British trade and settlement and the spread of the former British Empire, which, by 1921, included 470–570 million people, about a quarter of the world's population.