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Spanish or Castilian (' or ') is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula.

Castilian evolved from several dialects and languages in the northern fringes of the Iberian Peninsula during the 10th century, now collectively termed Spanish. Latin, the basic foundation of the Spanish language, was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Romans during the Second Punic War around 210 BC. During the 5th century, Hispania was invaded by Germanic Vandals, Suevi, Alans, and Visigoths, resulting in numerous dialects of Vulgar Latin. After the Moorish Conquest in the 8th century, Arabic became a powerful influence in the evolution of Iberian languages including Castilian.

Modern Spanish developed with the Readjustment of the Consonants ('') that began in 15th century. The language continues to adopt foreign words from a variety of other languages, as well as developing new words. Castilian was taken most notably to the Americas as well as to Africa and Asia Pacific with the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.

, 329 million people speak Spanish as a native language. It is the second most spoken language in the world in terms of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese.Spanish language total. Ethnologue. Retrieved 14 August 2009.Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition'', ed. M. Paul Lewis 2009 Mexico contains the largest population of Spanish speakers. Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.