Are you curious about which countries speak English nowadays? Here’s a comprehensive list of all English speaking countries in the world!
This list presents English speaking territories all over the world as well as the estimated number of people who speak English as a first language (L1) and the estimated number of people who speak English as a second language (L2).
How many English Speaking Countries Are There?
If you consider countries in which people speak English both as a first language and as a second language, the number of English speaking countries is 76.
Which English Speaking Country is the Largest?
The United States is the largest English speaking country in the world. Approximately 215.424.000 people speak English as a first language and 25.600.000 people speak English as a second language there.
All English Speaking Countries
Here’s a list of all English speaking countries in the world (both as a first (L1) and as a second language (L2)).
| TERRITORY | L1 SPEAKERS | L2 SPEAKERS |
| American Samoa | 2,000 | 65,000 |
| Antigua & Barbuda* | 66,000 | 2,000 |
| Aruba | 9,000 | 35,000 |
| Australia | 14,987,000 | 3,500,000 |
| Bahamas* | 260,000 | 28,000 |
| Bangladesh | – | 3,500,000 |
| Barbados* | 262,000 | 13,000 |
| Belize* | 190,000 | 56,000 |
| Bermuda | 63,000 | – |
| Bhutan | – | 75,000 |
| Botswana | – | 630,000 |
| British Virgin Islands* | 20,000 | – |
| Brunei | 10,000 | 134,000 |
| Cameroon | – | 7,700,000 |
| Canada | 20,000,000 | 7,000,000 |
| Cayman Islands | 36,000 | – |
| Cook Islands | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Dominica | 3,000 | 60,000 |
| Fiji | 6,000 | 170,000 |
| Gambia* | – | 40,000 |
| Ghana* | – | 1,400,000 |
| Gibraltar | 28,000 | 2,000 |
| Grenada | 100,000 | – |
| Guam | 58,000 | 100,000 |
| Guyana | 650,000 | 30,000 |
| Hong Kong | 150,000 | 2,200,000 |
| India | 350,000 | 200,000,000 |
| Ireland | 3,750,000 | 100,000 |
| Jamaica* | 2,600,000 | 50,000 |
| Kenya | – | 2,700,000 |
| Kiribati | – | 23,000 |
| Lesotho | – | 500,000 |
| Liberia* | 600,000 | 2,500,000 |
| Malawi | – | 540,000 |
| Malaysia | 380,000 | 7,000,000 |
| Malta | 13,000 | 95,000 |
| Marshall Islands | – | 60,000 |
| Mauritius | 2,000 | 200,000 |
| Micronesia | 4,000 | 60,000 |
| Montserrat* | 4,000 | – |
| Namibia | 14,000 | 300,000 |
| Nauru | 900 | 10,700 |
| Nepal | – | 7,000,000 |
| New Zealand | 3,700,000 | 150,000 |
| Nigeria* | – | 60,000,000 |
| Northern Marianas* | 5,000 | 65,000 |
| Pakistan | – | 17,000,000 |
| Palau | 500 | 18,000 |
| Papua New Guinea* | 150,000 | 3,000,000 |
| Philippines | 20,000 | 40,000,000 |
| Puerto Rico | 100,000 | 1,840,000 |
| Rwanda | – | 20,000 |
| St Kitts & Nevis* | 43,000 | – |
| St Lucia* | 31,000 | 40,000 |
| St Vincent & Grenadines* | 114,000 | – |
| Samoa | 1,000 | 93,000 |
| Seychelles | 3,000 | 30,000 |
| Sierra Leone* | 500,000 | 4,400,000 |
| Singapore | 350,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Salomon Islands* | 10,000 | 165,000 |
| South Africa | 3,700,000 | 11,000,000 |
| Sri Lanka | 10,000 | 1,900,000 |
| Suriname* | 260,000 | 150,000 |
| Swaziland | – | 50,000 |
| Tanzania | – | 4,000,000 |
| Tonga | – | 30,000 |
| Trinidad & Tobago* | 1,145,000 | – |
| Tuvalu | – | 800 |
| Uganda | – | 2,500,000 |
| United Kingdom | 58,190,000 | 1,500,000 |
| UK Islands (Channel, Man) | 227,000 | – |
| United States | 215,424,000 | 25,600,000 |
| US Virgin Islands* | 98,000 | 15,000 |
| Vanuatu* | 60,000 | 120,000 |
| Zambia | 110,000 | 1,800,000 |
| Zimbabwe | 250,000 | 5,30,000 |
| Other dependencies | 20,000 | 15,000 |
Countries that Speak English as a First Language
These are the countries that speak English as a first language (L1), and possibly other languages too:
- American Samoa
- Antigua & Barbuda*
- Aruba
- Australia
- Bahamas*
- Barbados*
- Belize*
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands*
- Brunei
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Cook Islands
- Dominica
- Fiji
- Gibraltar
- Grenada
- Guam
- Guyana
- Hong Kong
- India
- Ireland
- Jamaica*
- Liberia*
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montserrat*
- Namibia
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Northern Marianas*
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea*
- Philippines
- Puerto Rico
- St Kitts & Nevis*
- St Lucia*
- St Vincent & Grenadines*
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone*
- Singapore
- Salomon Islands*
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname*
- Trinidad & Tobago*
- United Kingdom
- UK Islands (Channel, Man)
- United States
- US Virgin Islands*
- Vanuatu*
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Other dependencies
Countries that Speak English as a Second Language
These are the countries that speak English as a second language (L2), and possibly other languages too:
- American Samoa
- Antigua & Barbuda*
- Aruba
- Australia
- Bahamas*
- Bangladesh
- Barbados*
- Belize*
- Bhutan
- Botswana
- Brunei
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cook Islands
- Dominica
- Fiji
- Gambia*
- Ghana*
- Gibraltar
- Guam
- Guyana
- Hong Kong
- India
- Ireland
- Jamaica*
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Liberia*
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montserrat*
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- Nigeria*
- Northern Marianas*
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Papua
- New Guinea*
- Philippines
- Puerto Rico
- Rwanda
- St Lucia*
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone*
- Singapore
- Salomon Islands*
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname*
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- United Kingdom
- United States
- US Virgin Islands*
- Vanuatu*
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries in Asia
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Hong Kong
- India
- Malaysia
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries in Africa
- Botswana
- Cameroon*
- Gambia*
- Ghana*
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia*
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Namibia
- Nigeria*
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone*
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries in Europe
- Gibraltar
- Malta
- United Kingdom
- UK Islands (Channel, Man)
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries in North America
- Antigua & Barbuda*
- Bahamas*
- Barbados*
- Belize*
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands*
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Dominica
- Grenada*
- Jamaica*
- Monserrat*
- Puerto Rico
- St Kitts & Nevis*
- St Lucia*
- St Vincent & Grenadines*
- United States
- US Virgin Islands*
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries in South America
- Aruba
- Guyana*
- Suriname*
- Trinidad & Tobago*
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries in Oceania
- American Samoa
- Australia
- Cook Islands
- Fiji
- Guam
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Northern Marianas*
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea*
- Samoa
- Salomon Islands*
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu*
- Other dependencies
English Speaking Countries: Map
* Countries where the variety of English spoken is a pidgin or creole.
Reference: Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
