Hispanophone (
hispanohablantes, hispanoparlantes or hispanófono; also castellanohablantes, castellanoparlantes, or castellanófonos) or
Hispanosphere denotes
Spanish language speakers and the Spanish-speaking world. The word derives from the
Latin political name of the
Iberian Peninsula,
Hispania, which comprised basically the territory of the modern states of
Spain,
Portugal and
Andorra.
Hispanophones are estimated at between 450 and 500 million globally, making Spanish the
second most spoken language in terms of native speakers. Around 360 million live in
Hispanic America and 46 million in
Spain. There are a large number of
Spanish speakers in the United States, comprising more than 34 million. There are also smaller Hispanophone groups in
Canada, northern
Morocco,
Equatorial Guinea,
Western Sahara the
Philippines and
Brazil as well as in many other places around the world, particularly large cities in
Western Europe, and
Australia.
In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The
Hispanic culture is the legacy of the
Spanish colonial empire, and so the term can refer to people whose cultural background is primarily associated with Spain, regardless of
ethnic or geographical differences. In a cultural sense, the whole of Hispanophones are sometimes called the
Hispanidad.