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Ñ-shaped animation showing flags of some countries and territories where Spanish is spoken. Spanish is the official language (either by law or de facto) in 20 sovereign states (including Equatorial Guinea, where it is official but not a native language), one dependent territory, and one partially recognized state, totaling around 442 million people.
The naming customs of Hispanic America are similar to the Spanish naming customs practiced in Spain, with some modifications to the surname rules.Many Hispanophones in the countries of Spanish-speaking America have two given names, plus like in Spain, a paternal surname (primer apellido or apellido paterno) and a maternal surname (segundo apellido or apellido materno).
This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which they are de jure or de facto official, although there are no precise inclusion criteria or definition of a language. An '*' (asterisk) indicates a country whose independence is disputed. Partially recognized or de facto independent countries are denoted by an asterisk (*)
Some countries have also undergone name changes for political or other reasons. Countries are listed alphabetically by their most common name in English. Each English name is followed by its most common equivalents in other languages, listed in English alphabetical order (ignoring accents) by name and by language.
In early 2008, [needs update] some new legislation is under consideration that will place the mother's last name ahead the father's last name, as it is done in Portuguese-speaking countries and only optionally in Spain, despite Argentina being a Spanish-speaking country.
In Spanish-speaking countries, hyphenated surnames arise when someone wants both the paternal and maternal surnames passed to future generations, and the next generation receives the two, hyphenated, as a single (paternal) surname. Occasionally the two are fused into a simple (unhyphenated) name, such as Jovellanos (from Jove and Llanos).
The Spanish nationality legal framework refers to all the laws, provisions, regulations, and resolutions in Spain concerning nationality.. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and lost. [1]
Spanish law follows the continental system, which means it is supported principally by the law in the broad sense (laws and regulations) and to a lesser extent by judicial decisions and customs. Likewise, it is a complex law, in which various autonomous community legislation coexists with the national.