English speaking countries

US (64.3%)

UK (16.7%)

Canada (5.3%)

Australia (4.7%)

South Africa (1.3%)

Ireland (1.1%)

New Zealand (1%)

Other (5.6%)

In some countries where English is not the most spoken language, it is an official language. These countries include Belize, Botswana, Cameroon (co-official with French), Eswatini (Swaziland), Fiji, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malaysia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, the Federated States of Micronesia, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. There also are countries where in a part of the territory English became a co-official language, in Colombia's San Andrés y Providencia, Hong Kong, Honduras's Bay Islands, and Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast. This was a result of the influence of British colonization and American colonization in these areas.

India has the largest number of second-language speakers of English (see Indian English); Crystal (2004) claims that combining native and non-native speakers, India has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world. However, most scholars and research that has been conducted dispute his assertions.Pakistan also has the English language (Pakistani English) as a second official language after the Urdu language as the result of British rule (Raj). Sri Lanka and the Philippines use English as their third and second official language after Sinhala and Tamil, and Filipino, respectively.

English is one of the eleven official languages that are given equal status in South Africa (South African English), where there are 4.8 million native English speakers. It is also the official language in current dependent territories of Australia (Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands) and of the United States of America (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (in Puerto Rico, English is co-official with Spanish) and the US Virgin Islands), and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Although the United States federal government has no official languages, English has been given official status by 32 of the 50 US state governments.Furthermore, per United States nationality law, the process of becoming a naturalized citizen of the US entails a basic English proficiency test, which may be the most prominent example of the claim of the nation not having an official language being belied by policy realities.

Although falling short of official status, English is also an important language in several former colonies and protectorates of the United Kingdom, such as Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. States and territories in which English or an English creole is the first language of the majority of the population

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "world language", the lingua franca of the modern era,and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language.It is, by international treaty, the official language for aeronautical and maritime communications. English is one of the official languages of the United Nations and many other international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee. It is also one of two co-official languages for astronauts (besides the Russian language) serving on board the International Space Station.

English is studied most often in the European Union, and the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages among Europeans is 67 per cent in favour of English ahead of 17 per cent for German and 16 per cent for French (as of 2012). Among some of the non-English-speaking EU countries, the following percentages of the adult population claimed to be able to converse in English in 2012: 90 per cent in the Netherlands, 89 per cent in Malta, 86 per cent in Sweden and Denmark, 73 per cent in Cyprus, Croatia, and Austria, 70 per cent in Finland, and over 50 per cent in Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Germany. In 2012, excluding native speakers, 38 per cent of Europeans consider that they can speak English.

Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences with Science Citation Index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries. In publishing, English literature predominates considerably with 28 per cent of all books published in the world [Leclerc 2011] and 30 per cent of web content in 2011 (down from 50 per cent in 2000).

This increasing use of the English language globally has had a large impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and even language death, and to claims of linguistic imperialism. English itself has become more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole.

Although English is the official or one of the official languages in over 45 countries, the most important English speaking countries are the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is also one of the official languages in the Irish Republic and the Republic of South Africa. They are situated in different parts of the world and differ in many ways.The nature of these countries, their weather and climate and way of life of their people differ.Each country has its own history, customs, traditions, its own national holidays. But they all have a common language.In today’s lesson we are going to give a brief description of all these countries.

The full name of the United Kingdom (UK) is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The UK is made up of four countries – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scotland is in the north. Edinburgh is its capital. Wales is in the west. The capital city is Cardiff. England is in the center; its capital is London.Northern Ireland, which is also an island, lies off the west coast of Great Britain. Belfast is its capital.

They are not independent countries, but “countries in a country”. They share citizenship, the armed forces, money, parliament and the capital – London. Nevertheless, each of the countries has its own national flag, emblem, anthem, and public holidays.

Population of the UK is about 60 million people. Almost 80% of the population which is 45 million people lives in England, in Scotland over 5 million, in Wales over 3 million, and in Northern Ireland about 2 million people.

The United Kingdom lies on the British Isles – a group of islands that include Britain, Ireland and a number of smaller islands. The Irish Sea separates two bigger islands.The English Channel, which is about 21 miles separates the UK from the continent.

GB is an abbreviation of Great Britain. Great Britain is a political term, which means three countries together – England, Scotland and Wales, but not Ireland. It is also a geographical term: the largest island in the British Isles is called so.Everywhere in the UK English is the official and common language. Nevertheless, each country of the UK has its own language.

In Wales there are two official languages – English and Welsh. Welsh is studied at schools and nearly a fifth or the people speak it.Less than 2 percent of the people in Scotland speak Gaelic.Only a few people can still speak the Irish form of Gaelic in Northern Ireland.

Scotland is in the north. Edinburgh is its capital. Wales is in the west. The capital city is Cardiff. England is in the center; its capital is London.Northern Ireland, which is also an island, lies off the west coast of Great Britain. Belfast is its capital.

They are not independent countries, but “countries in a country”. They share citizenship, the armed forces, money, parliament and the capital – London. Nevertheless, each of the countries has its own national flag, emblem, anthem, and public holidays.Population of the UK is about 60 million people. Almost 80% of the population which is 45 million people lives in England, in Scotland over 5 million, in Wales over 3 million, and in Northern Ireland about 2 million people.The United Kingdom lies on the British Isles – a group of islands that include Britain, Ireland and a number of smaller islands. The Irish Sea separates two bigger islands.

The English Channel, which is about 21 miles separates the UK from the continent.GB is an abbreviation of Great Britain. Great Britain is a political term, which means three countries together – England, Scotland and Wales, but not Ireland. It is also a geographical term: the largest island in the British Isles is called so.Everywhere in the UK English is the official and common language. Nevertheless, each country of the UK has its own language.

In Wales there are two official languages – English and Welsh. Welsh is studied at schools and nearly a fifth or the people speak it.Less than 2 percent of the people in Scotland speak Gaelic.Only a few people can still speak the Irish form of Gaelic in Northern Ireland.

Canada is situated in North America. Canada's motto, "From Sea to Sea," because the country is bounded by three oceans — the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. One-third of all fresh water on Earth is in Canada.Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. It’s area is 9.9 million sq km. The capital of the country is Ottawa. Canada is a union of ten provinces and two territories.The population of Canada is 33.8 million people. About 80% of the population live within 320 km of the southern border. Much of the rest of Canada is uninhabited or (звучит of) because of severe natural conditions.There are two state languages: English and French. English is spoken by 60 % of population; French is spoken by 23 % of people.

The biggest English speaking country is the USA.It is situated in the central part of North American continent.It borders on Canada in the north and Mexico in the south.Having the total area of over 9 million sq km it is one of the largest countries in the world.The population of the country is about 320 million people, making it the third most populous country in the world.Americans are made up from nearly all races and nations. That’s why the USA is called “the melting pot”

The USA consists of fifty states.The administrative and political center of the country is its capital Washington D.C. (the District of Columbia), named after the first US President George Washington.At the same time, the main economic and financial of the USA is New York, called “Big Apple”.Other important US cities are: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.Americans use lots of slang words in their speech and have a distinctive accent.What does the expression “all-American” make you think of?Which of the things below would you consider to be “all-American”?The Statue of Liberty, pizza, hot dog, baseball, Thanksgiving Day, Halloween.