Where does spanish rank as a world language?

Spanish ranks second as a world language by the number of native speakers, behind Mandarin Chinese.

Here's a breakdown:

* Mandarin Chinese: 939 million native speakers

* Spanish: 534 million native speakers

* English: 379 million native speakers

* Hindi: 602 million native speakers (though it's not always considered a distinct language from Urdu)

* Arabic: 274 million native speakers

However, it's important to note that English is considered the most spoken language in the world when considering total speakers, which includes both native and non-native speakers.