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Spanish (espa?ol) or Castilian (castellano) is an Iberian Romance language. It is the most-widely spoken Romance Language, and the fourth most-widely spoken language in the world according to some sources, while other sources list it as the second or third most spoken language. It is spoken as a first language by about 402 million people, and by a total of 500 million including non-native speakers.[citation needed]

Originating in Spain and whence it was later brought by Spanish explorers, colonists, and empire-builders to the Western Hemisphere and other parts of the world during the last five centuries, Spanish is one of the top five most spoken languages worldwide, and is one of the six official working languages of the United Nations. It is one of the most important global languages(along with English and French),that is spoken on all continents: most extensively in North and South America, Europe, and certain parts of Africa and Asia. Its importance also resides in the international expansion and recognition of Spanish language literature, film industry, television industry (especially telenovelas), and music industry within the globalized market.
Spanish people tend to call this language espa?ol when contrasting it with languages of other states (for example: in a list with French and English), but call it castellano (Castilian, from the Castile region) when contrasting it with other languages of Spain (such as Galician, Basque, and Catalan/Valencian). In this manner, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of the whole State, opposed to las dem?s lenguas espa?olas (lit. the other Spanish languages). Article III reads as follows:

El castellano es la lengua espa?ola oficial del Estado. (...) Las dem?s lenguas espa?olas ser?n tambi?n oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Aut?nomas...
Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. (...) Other Spanish languages shall also be official in the respective Autonomous Communities...
However, in some parts of Spain, mainly where people speak Galician, Basque, and Catalan, the choice of words can reveal somehow the speaker's sense of belonging, and even their political views. People from bilingual areas might consider it offensive to call the language espa?ol, as that is the term that was chosen by Francisco Franco -- during whose dictatorship the use of regional languages was forbidden -- and because it connotes that Basque, Catalan and Galician are not languages of Spain. On the other hand, more nationalist speakers (both Spanish and regional nationalists) might prefer espa?ol either to reflect their belief in the unity of the Spanish State or to denote the perceived detachment between their region and the rest of the State.

For the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, speakers of the language in some areas refer to it as espa?ol, and in others castellano is more common. Castellano is the name given to the Spanish language in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Some philologists use "Castilian" only when speaking of the language spoken in Castile during the Middle Ages, stating that it is preferable to use "Spanish" for its modern form. Castilian can be also a subdialect of Spanish spoken in most parts of modern day Castile. This dialect has a number of characteristics and a specific pronunciation different to the one of Andalusia or Aragon for example, where different subdialects are spoken.
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