<P> Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al - Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula . With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin . It has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero - Romance languages . It also adopted words from non-Iberian languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths . It has absorbed vocabulary from other languages, particularly the Romance languages French, Italian, Occitan, and Sardinian, as well as from Nahuatl, Quechua, and other indigenous languages of the Americas . </P> <P> Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations . It is also used as an official language by the European Union, the Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and by many other international organizations . </P> <P> It is estimated that more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language, which qualifies it as second on the lists of languages by number of native speakers . Instituto Cervantes claims that there are an estimated 477 million Spanish speakers with native competence and 572 million Spanish speakers as a first or second language--including speakers with limited competence--and more than 21 million students of Spanish as a foreign language . </P> <P> Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, and 19 countries in the Americas . Speakers in the Americas total some 418 million . In the European Union, Spanish is the mother tongue of 8% of the population, with an additional 7% speaking it as a second language . Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States . In 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over, 38 million speak Spanish at home . </P>

Where does spanish rank in terms of the number of native speakers