North America : European settlers spoke English and this secured the spread of English throughout the whole continent

Caribbean: Europeans traded and later colonised many of the Caribbean Islands; Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica.

Australia: Captain James Cook claimed Australia in 1770. British colonies were established because of the lack of space for prisoners.

India: The brits came to India in early 1600s to trade tea, cotton, silk and spices. Gradually Britain took control over the country and became an official colony in 1858

Africa: slaves were the "commodity" that first attracted the british traders. 1900--britain controlled nearly 30% of Africas population

1/4 to 1/3 of the people in the world understand and speak english to some degree.

companies use English for written and spoken communication involving people of different origins.