Spanish Language Overview

Study Notes

Spanish, also known as Castilian, originated in the Iberian Peninsula.
It's a global language with over 483 million native speakers, second only to Mandarin Chinese in number of native speakers and fourth overall after English and Hindi.
It belongs to the Ibero-Romance language group, evolving from Vulgar Latin after the Western Roman Empire's fall.
The oldest Spanish texts date back to the 9th century in northern Iberia, with systematic written use starting in 13th-century Toledo.
Spanish spread globally from 1492 onward through the Spanish Empire's reach across the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and the Philippines.
Based on a 1949 study by Mario Pei, Spanish exhibits a 20% difference from its parent language, Latin, making it one of the closest Romance languages to Latin.
Approximately 75% of Spanish vocabulary originates from Latin, including borrowings from Ancient Greek.
Around 8% of Spanish vocabulary has Arabic roots due to the Al-Andalus era.
It also includes influences from languages such as Basque, Iberian, Celtiberian, Visigothic, other Ibero-Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, etc.), and indigenous American languages like Quechua and Nahuatl.

Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Other organizations using it officially include the European Union, Organization of American States, Union of South American Nations, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the African Union.
Despite its widespread use, Spanish is less prominent in scientific writing compared to other languages; however it is more frequently used in humanities.
75% of Spanish-language scientific production focuses on social sciences, medical sciences, and arts/humanities.
It is the third most used language on the internet.