The Three Linguistic Spaces ( in Spanish, in French, in Portuguese, acronym: TEL) is a structure for cooperation between the Francophone, or French-speaking world, the Hispanophone or Spanish-speaking world, and the Lusophone, or Portuguese-speaking world. It is led by the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the International Organisation of La Francophonie. The Francophone space is the most populous space with a population of 450 million people and also the largest space at over . The Hispanophone space is the richest space by GDP nominal at nearly $5 trillion, slightly ahead of the Francophone space.
History and Events In 2001, the organizations above held a joint meeting dubbed the First Colloquium of the Three Linguistic Spaces (TEL) (; ; ). It was conceived, in the words of Spanish academic Frigdiano Álvaro Durántez Prados, as "a process of formalized meetings involving representatives of organizations from countries with Neo-Latin languages, together with independent specialists from those spheres, with the general objective of creating the conditions to initiate a dialogue aimed at achieving a form of Pan-Latin consensus, and 'organizing a common front to combat the negative effects of globalization.'"
In 2013, on the European Day of Languages, the Three Linguistic Spaces organizations issued a message declaring that they "join their voices to underscore the need to protect and promote multilingualism within the European space."
In November 2015, a Meeting of Three Linguistic Spaces was held at the headquarters of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) in Lisbon, with the participation of the Secretary-General of the OEI, as well as representatives from the CPLP, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB). The meeting was titled "Language, Identity, and Social Inclusion in a Globalized World," and was divided into three roundtables: Plurilingualism and Intercultural Dialogue; Language, Culture, and Development; and Languages, Knowledge, and Social Inclusion.
Area, population and GDP by country
Hispanophone space
Spanish-speaking countries:
Rank Country Area in km² Population (2014) Nominal GDP (2014) in millions USD 1 2 780 400 43 024 374 540 2002 1 964 375 120 286 655 1 283 0003 1 285 216 30 147 935 202 9004 1 138 914 46 245 297 384 9005 1 098 581 10 631 486 34 4306 916 445 28 868 486 205 8007 756 102 17 363 894 256 0008 505 370 47 737 941 1 407 0009 406 752 6 703 860 29 70010 283 561 15 654 411 100 80011 176 215 3 332 972 55 14012 130 370 5 848 641 11 71013 112 090 8 598 561 19 51014 110 860 11 047 251 77 15015 108 889 14 647 083 60 42016 75 420 3 608 431 43 78017 51 100 4 755 234 48 14018 48 670 10 349 741 64 08019 28 051 722 254 14 31020 21 041 6 125 512 25 31021 13 790 3 620 897 61 460 Hispanophone total area 12 012 212 439 320 916 4 925 740
Lusophone space
Portuguese-speaking countries:
Rank Country Area in km² Population (2014) GDP nominal (2014) in millions USD 1 8 514 877 202 656 788 2 353 0002 1 246 700 19 088 106 128 6003 799 380 24 692 144 16 6804 92 090 10 813 834 230 0005 36 125 1 693 398 1 0246 14 874 1 201 542 4 4787 4 033 538 535 1 8998 964 190 428 341 Lusophone total area 10 709 043 260 874 775 2 736 022
Francophone spaces
French-speaking countries:
Rank Country Area in km² Population (2014) GDP nominal (2014) in millions USD 19984670350998361573000223448581003751363906031284000116314561169041267000180457297119512401921695553610950664380166553766242300076229845391539162485870412381268195149475440237392182852010342000475509788711132246323295302312701226766717053361380013274200189316861132014245857117801626733151967221397583413990161126221044864777011756785755231841521841277812183067719305281132397345870020278301074227629702127750101100198797222633812661733846823232008283241743241857522482411100251218927226477126416728270371502725865702525793028223578097158929455924301375302425657215.331142156131883211697294577133551400345429376561.535247237179362305356063 Francophone total space 20 486 067 450 246 730 4 775 562 Total Hispanophone, Francophone and Lusophone spaces: Rank Country Area in km² Population (2014) GDP nominal (2014) in millions USD 1World148 429 0007 256 490 01177 269 1682Three Linguistic Spaces43 207 3221 150 442 42112 437 324
References