# Are any bilingual Spanish/German territories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934 "2022-12-22T01:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/1 "2022-12-22T01:18:03Z")
Are there any territories where German and Spanish are official language? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/2 "2022-12-22T01:25:34Z")
> **[List of countries and territories where German is an official language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_where_German_is_an_official_language)** > > Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide. > The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent territories with German as a co-official language. > German is the official language of six countries, all of which lie in central and western Europe. These... > **[List of countries and territories where Spanish is an official language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_where_Spanish_is_an_official_language)** > > The following is a list of countries where Spanish is an official language, plus a number of countries where Spanish or any language closely related to it, is an important or significant language. > Spanish is the official language (either by law or de facto) in 20 sovereign states and one dependent territory, totaling around 442 million people. This includes Equatorial Guinea, where it is official but not a native language. > In these countries and territories, Spanish is the main or mostly use... I don’t see any overlap there. Several South American countries have a German diaspora, but no official status. It does appear to have some kind of official status in some parts of Brazil - but there of course it’s with Portugese, I don’t think Spanish has any official status. I’m surprised to discover that Spanish has no official status in the U.S., or even at a state level in New Mexico; German certainly doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/3 "2022-12-22T01:45:21Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m surprised to discover that Spanish has no official status in the U.S., or even at a state level in New Mexico; German certainly doesn’t. Not even English has official status in the United States. English is the language used by government de facto. But there’s no de jure national language. A lot of government services are provided in multiple languages depending on the demands of the relevant constituency. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/4 "2022-12-22T03:22:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m surprised to discover that Spanish has no official status in the U.S., or even at a state level in New Mexico; German certainly doesn’t. Historically it _did_ have a requirement in the New Mexico State constitution, which was for a fixed period, renewed repeatedly, but finally allowed to lapse. There are still protections for Spanish speakers, but, as noted, there isn’t really an “official” language status in the United States. For more reading - [Language Policy Web Site](http://www.languagepolicy.net/archives/nm-con.htm#:~:text=On%20January%206%2C%201912%2C%20President,equal%20to%20the%20English%20language). > On November 7, 1911, the electors of New Mexico approved a substitute provision on the amendment process. On January 6, 1912, President Taft signed the Statehood Proclamation. > > The Mexican Americans of New Mexico succeeded in protecting their heritage by inserting provisions in their constitution which made Spanish an official language, equal to the English language. The constitution also provided that, for the following twenty years, all laws passed by the legislature be published in both Spanish and English, and thereafter as the legislature should provide. Or for somewhat easier reading. [https://www.abqjournal.com/208492/spanish-not-enshrined-as-official-nm-language.html](https://www.abqjournal.com/208492/spanish-not-enshrined-as-official-nm-language.html) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/5 "2022-12-22T04:25:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Not even English has official status in the United States. [English is the official languag3e of the state of California](https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_63,_English_as_the_Official_Language_Initiative_(1986)) and has been since 1986. [Here is a list of US states and their official language(s)](https://netstate.com/states/tables/state_languages.htm). It has some interesting information. For example, English is not the official language of Maine; however, Maine does have an official language for their Deaf community (American Sign Language). Also, Hawaii has two official languages: English, Hawaiian. Sadly, Hawaiian Pidgin isn’t on their list of official lingos. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/6 "2022-12-22T11:37:18Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Are there any territories where German and Spanish are official language? Officially, no, but parts of Mallorca probably qualify from a _de facto_ standpoint… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/7 "2022-12-23T02:35:54Z")
There’s a town in southern Chile where many still speak German. And, a few places in Paraguay, I’m pretty sure. Then there are Mennonite communities in Belize, Bolivia, and at least two parts of Mexico (Chihuahua and Campeche). I’ve heard German on a radio station in Hopelchen, Campeche, Mexico, where the Mennonite population has grown in the past 20 years. Many villagers around them also speak Spanish as a second language…because they speak Yucatec Maya at home. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/8 "2022-12-23T02:37:26Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > parts of Mallorca probably qualify from a _de facto_ standpoint… 😆 At the time of the collapse of the remnants of their empire in the late 1890s Spain sold off its lesser Pacific domains (Marshalls, Carolines, Northern Marianas) to Germany, but these (a) were barely used as fleet supply stations and trade posts with no real persistent society-building by Germans, (b) had not been treated that much differently than that by the _Spanish_ either in the prior couple of centuries, and (c) were taken over by Japan in WW1, and then by the USA in WW2. The language of the New Boss successively took over as that of officialdom every time AFAICT. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/9 "2022-12-23T20:02:25Z")
For a more serious answer, perhaps the OP might consider the territory (well, buildings) held by the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Brussels, and Kirchberg, where Spanish and German (among other languages) are co-official. These territories don’t have their own separate jurisdiction, but they are operated by an internationally recognized polity with legislative power. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/10 "2022-12-24T10:18:50Z")
A story which periodically pops up in German media is that of [Thälmann Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Th%C3%A4lmann_Island), an island off the coast of Cuba which purportedly was ceded by Castro to East Germany in 1972 as a token of Socialist friendship between the two countries. The act is, however, seen as merely symbolic and not an actual transfer of territorial title '(and both the German and Cuban governments are in agreement on this). ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-bilingual-spanish-german-territories/976934/11 "2022-12-24T20:40:25Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Then there are Mennonite communities in Belize, Bolivia, and at least two parts of Mexico (Chihuahua and Campeche). Stumbled across an Amish/Mennonite service in the jungle of western Belize. Thought we had been transported to Lancaster, except the buggies had wide tires instead of the skinny one for American roads. Horses looked about the same…