Language Information
Spanish is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain. Nearly 500 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it second only to Mandarin in terms of its number of native speakers worldwide. Globally, Spanish is spoken in over 20 countries, is one of the six languages of the United Nations, and is one of the most in-demand foreign languages worldwide.
An additional 75 million people speak Spanish as a second language, including speakers with limited competence and 20 million students of Spanish as a foreign language. Mexico is home to the largest population of Spanish speakers. Within the U.S., Spanish is the second most spoken language and Spanish-speaking populations are continuing to grow.
At Indiana University, Spanish can be studied as a major or minor as well as at the graduate level through the Department of Spanish & Portuguese.