Author: Adam DuVander

What do nearly 600 million people around the world have in common? Hablan español—that is, they speak Spanish. Included in that number is an impressive amount of native Spanish speakers, who, as children, learned to speak the language of their birthplace place. Spanish is only surpassed by English, Mandarin, and Hindi in popularity.

As such, you can find Spanish speakers on nearly every continent in the world, from Africa to Oceania. There are 45 countries where Spanish is either an official language or a significant Spanish-speaking population—and not only in Spain and Latin America, as you’ll find on the map below.

View Map of Spanish-Speaking Countries in a full screen map

Spanish-Speaking Continents

As the fourth most popular language in the world, Spanish is spoken across most continents. But which are home to most of the 45 Spanish-speaking countries?

1. South America (11 Spanish-speaking countries)
2. Caribbean (7)
3. Central America (7)
4. Europe (7, including Turkey)
5. Africa (4)
6. Oceania (3)
7. North America (3)
8. Asia (4, also including Turkey)

For nine of South America’s Spanish-speaking countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela), Spanish is an official language. Meanwhile, Spanish is spoken in Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago, though it’s not an official language. Within the continent, Colombia is home to the highest percentage of the population who speak Spanish natively (99.2%) while Paraguay is home to the least (68.2%).

While the majority of South American countries all have a high amount of Spanish speakers, technically North America is the continent with the most. Though many separate the Caribbean and Central America (including the source of our data), they’re both a part of the same continent as Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

Of those three, only Mexico lists Spanish as its official language—and 96.8% speak it natively. Meanwhile, just 1.94% of Canadians, or 732,110 people speak Spanish whether natively or non-natively. Though a small percentage, Canada is the country with the 5th most number of Spanish speakers, for which it isn’t an official language. The U.S. boasts 17.15%—56,757,391 people—of the same statistic, which is actually the highest among the countries where Spanish isn’t an official language.

Altogether, 17 North American countries speak Spanish, and it’s the official language of 10 total, including many of the countries with the most native Spanish speakers we’ll discuss below.

Countries with the Most Native Spanish Speakers

While you can find Spanish speakers on every continent aside from Antarctica, there are certain places where you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t speak Spanish. The countries where Spanish is an official language in the following table are home to almost 100% native Spanish speakers.

Country	Flag	% of population who speak Spanish natively
Cuba	🇨🇺	99.8
El Salvador	🇸🇻	99.7
Costa Rica	🇨🇷	99.3
Colombia	🇨🇴	99.2
Puerto Rico	🇵🇷	99
Honduras	🇭🇳	98.7
Uruguay	🇺🇾	98.4
Argentina	🇦🇷	98.1
Dominican Republic	🇩🇴	97.6
Venezuela	🇻🇪	97.3

If you’re visiting Cuba and don’t speak Spanish, you may have some trouble, seeing as 99.8% of the population speaks the language natively. That leaves just 22,660 of Cuba’s 11.33 million residents who aren’t native speakers.

Yet while Spanish is the official language of Cuba (as is the case for all of the top 10), it isn’t the only language spoken in the country. Many Cubans also speak Haitian Creole, Lucumi, Galician, and Corsican.

Additionally, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Puerto Rico also fall into the 99th percentile of native Spanish speakers, followed closely by the rest of the countries on the table.

You can see where the other countries fall when you group the map by “% of population who speak Spanish natively”, which includes details about the Spanish-speaking country in Africa where 74% are native speakers.

The White House, the Capitol building, and a certain monument are some of the most famous landmarks in Washington DC and they’re in good company. The United States capital is named for Columbia, the female national personification of the U.S., and George Washington (the district’s oldest landmark also bears the first president’s name).

It’s also one of the most visited cities in the U.S. This may be due to the over one hundred landmarks in the district.

In celebration of when DC was officially incorporated as a city on May 3, 1802, we’re highlighting all of its national landmarks past, present, and future: parks, memorials, and monuments (including the White House, Supreme Court Building, and the United States Capitol) on the map below.

View Washington D.C. Landmarks in a full screen map

Types of Landmarks in Washington DC

The District of Columbia is home to 103 national landmarks, most of which are dedicated to events or people in American history. This includes the buildings of the three branches of U.S. government: the Capitol, White House, and Supreme Court, all of which are current national historic landmarks. There are 72 more DC landmarks in the same category, along with seven other sortable types on the map:

• Current National Historic Landmarks (75)
  • Moved National Historic Landmarks (1)
• Current National Memorials (12)
  • Future National Memorials (4)
  • Other National Memorials (3)
• National Historic Sites (5)
• National Monuments (2)
• National Historical Parks (1)

Most common are, of course, national historic landmarks. However, this doesn’t make them any less worth visiting. To be designated as such, structures, districts, objects, and similar resources nationwide must meet criteria of national significance, including having a significant impact on American history, an association with a nationally significant figure, or an architectural style or significant development in engineering.

Along with the many current national historic landmarks, a national museum previously located in DC has since moved. The Army Medical Museum and Library was designated as a landmark In 1965, though it was demolished just four years later. Thankfully, the building’s collection was saved. It’s now displayed at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, albeit this museum is currently without official landmark status.

Check out the map to view national monuments, memorials (current, future, and other), and historic sites and parks. Now let’s go over which of these landmarks in Washington DC are the oldest.

Pre-20th Century: the Oldest Washington DC Landmarks

Washington DC was officially incorporated as a city on May 3, 1802. The district’s oldest landmark was designated 83 years later in 1885 (the Washington Monument). Let’s take a closer look at the oldest Washington DC landmarks in the table below.

Landmark	Date designated
Washington Monument	February 21, 1885
Lincoln Memorial	May 30, 1922
Thomas Jefferson Memorial	April 13, 1943
City Hall / D.C. Courthouse	December 19, 1960
Decatur House	December 19, 1960
Octagon House	December 19, 1960
St. John’s Church	December 19, 1960
Tudor Place	December 19, 1960
United States Capitol	December 19, 1960
White House	December 19, 1960

The Washington Monument is the oldest landmark in the nation’s capital. Its designation was followed by two more DC landmarks dedicated to past presidents in 1922 and 1943.

But perhaps the most interesting of the ten oldest DC landmarks are the seven that were designated on the same date in December 1960. Included are the White House, Decatur House across the way, and St. John’s Church, nicknamed the Church of the Presidents.

However, the date a building is officially named a national historic landmark often isn’t when it was constructed. In fact, there can be over a hundred years between. For example, construction on the White House began in October 1792 and was finished in November 1800. This makes the President’s residence older than the city itself.

Moving on, let’s look at the latest landmarks in Washington DC.

Most Recent Monuments & Memorials

On the other hand, the district’s most recent landmark addition is the 2021 Pan American Union Headquarters. The majority of the new DC landmarks were designated throughout the 2010s:

• Pan American Union Headquarters (2021)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial (2020)
• National Native American Veterans Memorial (2020)
• Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality (2016)
• World War I Memorial (2014)
• Congressional Cemetery (2011)
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (2011)
• Lafayette Building (2005)
• United Mine Workers of America Building (2005)
• World War II Memorial (2004)

If you feel like you’ve already visited DC after clicking through the map, check out Hawaii’s landmarks or those in Washington (state). Otherwise, you can start mapping your own state’s landmarks at batchgeo.com.

As the oldest major professional sports league in the world, Major League Baseball (MLB) is full of history. The MLB is currently made up of 30 teams, with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. But teams have moved, changed names, and even folded over the years. As a result, the locations we know today aren’t always the same as the past.

Nearly 80 MLB stadiums have been constructed that remained open after 1950. Some current fields are over a century old, though many are retired and have been repurposed as malls or parking lots. Additionally, some MLB franchises have faced multiple stadium changes, all of which we’ll find out on the map below.

View MLB Stadiums in a full screen map

Oldest MLB Stadiums Still In Use

Of the 76 professional baseball stadiums ever constructed in the U.S. and Canada, the MLB only needs 30 at any given time for 30 teams (at least until the next expansion era comes along). The stadiums currently in-use range in age, with some having opened their doors as recently as 2020 to several as old as 1912. So let’s highlight the oldest MLB stadiums currently being used in the table below:

Stadium	Opened
Fenway Park	1912
Wrigley Field	1914
Dodger Stadium	1962
Angel Stadium	1966
RingCentral Coliseum	1966
Kauffman Stadium	1973
Rogers Centre	1989
Tropicana Field	1990
Guaranteed Rate Field	1991
Oriole Park at Camden Yards	1992

Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is the oldest MLB stadium used today. Opened in 1912, the stadium can hold up to 37,755 baseball fans (sort the map above by “Capacity” for the largest and smallest MLB fields currently in-use).

Just two years later, the slightly larger Wrigley Field finished construction. Today, up to 41,649 people can continue watching the Chicago Cubs play America’s pastime in the ancient stadium. Yet, Wrigley Field isn’t the only older stadium still standing in Chicago, Illinois. Though opening much later in 1991, Guaranteed Rate Field is in the older half of stadiums in use. That classification means there are many more (20) newer stadiums built between 1994-2020. Group the map by “Opened” to see for yourself.

After Wrigley in 1914, it took nearly 50 years for the next MLB stadium (that’s still used by the league today) to be constructed. However, that’s because many of the oldest MLB stadiums are no longer in use or have been turned into homeless shelters, other sports stadiums, or more.

Where Are Former MLB Baseball Fields Now?

In addition to the current MLB stadiums, 45 former fields closed more recently (after 1950). The oldest of these opened its doors in 1881, though that’s not even the most interesting thing about these former MLB stadiums.

While many former stadiums were remodeled and now are spaces for sports other than baseball—or parking lots—just as many have been turned into malls, hospitals, and churches.

• Shopping
  • Seals Stadium
  • Sick’s Stadium
  • Metropolitan Stadium
• Streets
  • Arlington Stadium
  • Athletic Park
• Hospitals
  • Griffith Stadium
  • Wrigley Field
• Closed but still standing
  • Houston Astrodome
  • RFK Memorial Stadium
• Buildings
  • Crosley Field
  • Polo Grounds III

Most notable among these former MLB stadiums is the Metropolitan Stadium, which closed in 1981. It’s now home to Mall of America, the largest mall in the U.S., though remnants of the MLB baseball field remain there to this day. The mall’s amusement park contains a plaque at the former location of home plate. Additionally, a stadium seat remains in its same location.

Yet Metropolitan Stadium isn’t even the only former stadium of the Minnesota Twins. Altogether, they’ve gone through three stadiums, as we’ll see when we cover the MLB teams with the most stadium changes.

MLB Teams with the Most Stadium Changes

What all these MLB stadiums have in common—regardless of whether they’re currently used or have been turned into a mall—is that they’ve all been the meeting place for professional baseball teams and fans alike. However, some franchises have gone through more stadium changes than others, as shown in the table below.

Team	# of stadium changes
Toronto Blue Jays	4
Texas Rangers	3
San Francisco Giants	3
Pittsburgh Pirates	3
Montreal Expos	3
Minnesota Twins	3
Cincinnati Reds	3
Atlanta Braves	3

While seven teams have faced three stadium changes, the Toronto Blue Jays should join the Hall of Fame as the team that has bounced around the most stadiums. Rogers Centre may currently be home to the Toronto Blue Jays, but it’s far from the first. Interestingly enough, of the four stadiums where the Toronto Blue Jays have played, two were located in cities… other than Toronto.

This is because the Canadian professional baseball team had to both use TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida and Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York from 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 border restrictions. The Blue Jays also previously used Exhibition Stadium, before it closed in 1989… which, of course, was located in Toronto, just a few miles away from Rogers Centre.

Additionally, Rogers Centre is considered one of the 500 Largest Stadiums in the World. See the rest yourself when you group the map by “Main use” and opt for baseball.