English as a mother tongue is dominated by the North Americans (about 220 million in the United States, and a further 20 million or so in Canada). What is more, the regional dialects within North America are far less diverse than they are within the British Isles. There are about 56 million English speakers in Great Britain and about four million in Ireland. Scottish English and Irish English might fairly claim to be considered separate varieties, however, as might several dialects within England itself — these are all in many ways more distinct from the 'standard' English of England than American English is. Nevertheless, 'British English' remains a convenient label, and is often used too, as in this book, to cover the varieties of mother-tongue English in Australia (about 14 million speakers), New Zealand (about three million) and South Africa (about two million).
English, ranging from standard to Creole, is the sole official language of many countries in the Caribbean, and in various small islands and territories in other parts of the world.
Many other countries, though not typically having English as a mother tongue, do have a considerable number of mother-tongue English speakers nevertheless. India is the foremost example, with several million mother-tongue English speakers.
