How many countries speak Mandarin?

It's not accurate to say a country "speaks" a language. Instead, we can talk about which countries have Mandarin as an official language or a widely spoken language.

Here's the breakdown:

* Official Language: Mandarin Chinese is the official language of China, Taiwan, and Singapore.

* Widely Spoken: Mandarin is also widely spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and several other countries in Southeast Asia, as well as in communities around the world due to immigration and cultural influence.

It's important to note:

* While Mandarin is the official language in these countries, other languages are also spoken.

* The dialects of Mandarin within China itself are diverse, with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility.

So, while we can't say how many countries "speak" Mandarin, we can say it's an official language in 3 countries and widely spoken in many others.