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Census data is always iffy in Latin America, but check out recent estimates at http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gpro&lng=en&dat=32&geo=-2&srt=npan&col=aohdq. It gets more complicated--Belize, which is officially English-speaking, is about half Spanish-speaking, for instance. But for approximations the figures are pretty good. But of course it's not a contest. Increasingly Portuguese speakers and Spanish speakers of the educated classes learn each other's languages, and they tend to see themselves as a part of the same cultural unit, i.e., not us. Mark At 08:02 PM 3/13/2007, you wrote: >The Wiki site does mention only South America and attributes 186 million to >Portuguese speaking on the continent, according to most recent census data. >It says that Spanish is the most widespread on the continent but that >Portuguese has the highest number of speakers (mostly from Brazil). 371 >million people in S. America. 548 million in Latin America (which adds in >Mexico, most of Central America, and most of the Caribbean). > > >On 3/13/07 7:15 PM, "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Ah. Mexico had 106 million people last I looked, Guatemala and Cuba > > about 11 mil each. That would probably do it. > > > > At 07:09 PM 3/13/2007, you wrote: > >> Blame it on the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language > >> > >> I think they probably exclude Central America. Heh > >> > >> Roger > >> > >> On 3/13/07, Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >>> Sorry. Yup, a difference between Portuguese and Spanish. > >>> > >>> I don't think I understand your weighing of > >>> Portuguese and Spanish. There are something like > >>> 562 million people in Latin America, of which 186 > >>> million are Brazilian and speak Portuguese or > >>> indiginous languages. The rest speak Spanish or > >>> indiginous languages. The percentage in either > >>> case that speak only an indiginous language is > >>> very small and shrinking. About twice as many speak Spanish as > Portuguese. > >>> > >>> Mark > >> > >> -- > >> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/ > >> "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious." Oscar Wilde > >