The Spanish language, also known as Castilian (español or castellano in Spanish), is one of the most important world languages and belongs to the Romance language family, which developed from Latin. With over 480 million native speakers, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese. It is the official language in Spain, almost all of Latin America and in international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union. Spanish is characterized by its clear pronunciation, regular grammatical structures and diverse vocabulary, which includes Arabic and indigenous influences.