A brief history of the English Language

English Speakers in the Americas
Within the English-speaking countries in the Americas, an estimated 350 million people can speak English. About 297 million are native speakers residing in the United States, while 30 million live in Canada. In Central and South America, there are about 14 million English speakers. The English speakers are spread across Puerto Rico (1.7 million), Chile (1.97 million), Columbia (2 million), and Argentina (5.9 million).
English Speakers in Africa
Many countries in Africa consider English a second language. Given the diversity in the languages on the continent, statistics show that about 237 million people speak English in the region. Most English speakers in Africa reside in Cameroon (9.8 million) and 111 million in Nigeria. There are 29 million English speakers in Uganda and South Africa (16 million).
English Speakers In Oceania
Within the Oceania region, about 30 million people speak English. Twenty-two million are native English speakers from Australia. 4 million come from New Zealand, with a majority of the citizens speaking New Zealand English. There are a total of 200,000 English speakers in Fiji and 3.2 million in Papua New Guinea.
English Speakers in the Caribbean
In the Caribbean, there are about 18 territories where English is the official language. It's also a language popularly used among tourists. So, even if you're in a region where it isn't the primary language, most people within the region speak it as a second language. The largest and populous island in the Caribbean (Jamaica) has 2.6 million English speakers, with 459,000 being native speakers.
A large population in the Middle East speaks Arabic. English is regarded as a "business" language taught in universities and schools as a second language. In Iraq, 35% of the country's English speakers consider it their second language. In Israel, over 80% of the country's population can speak it.
English Speakers in Asia
Asia has few native English speakers, with most speaking English as a foreign or second language. This continent has about 460 million people who can speak English. India leads as the country with a high number of people who can speak English at 265 million. Pakistan has 25 million, Bangladesh 29 million and the Philippines has 50 million.
Singapore has over 4.2 million English speakers, making up over 80% of its total population. English is also among the country's official languages, like Tamil, Mandarin, and Malay. Only 36% of the country's total population are native speakers. Japanese is the official language in Japan, but it's estimated that 30 percent of the country's population can speak English at any level. Only 2% can speak English fluently.
Europe has an average of 200 million English speakers. The total number of English speakers in the United Kingdom is estimated at 60 million. Northern Ireland accounts for 1.7 million people, Wales and England has over 49.8 million and Scotland has 5.1 million.
There are 20.7 million people who can speak English in Italy, 25.4 million in France, and 45.8 million in Germany. A majority of the United Kingdom English Speakers consider it their native language. The other countries in the European region speak it as their second language.