number of countries that speak english as a first language

While there isn’t a universally agreed upon definition of “country” that speaks English as a first language, data on the number of native English speakers by country is available.

Here’s some information to consider:

The United States has the highest number of native English speakers, with estimates around 286 million.

Many countries, formerly British colonies or protectorates, have English as an official language but don’t necessarily have a large number of native speakers.