Language diversity
The top 10 most spoken languages in Africa in order are; Arabic, Kiswahili (Swahili), Hausa, English, Amharic, French, Oromo, Yoruba, Igbo and Zulu.
There are thousands of languages spoken in Africa; over 2,000 in fact.
Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture
4-18-2012
Below is a list of African countries and their languages compiled by the World Factbook. Every language is a temple, in which the soul of those who speak it is enshrined. - Oliver Wendell Holmes
|
African Country
|
Languages Spoken |
Algeria
|
Arabic (official), French (lingua franca), Berber dialects: Kabylie Berber (Tamazight), Chaouia Berber (Tachawit), Mzab Berber, Tuareg Berber (Tamahaq) |
| Angola | Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages |
| Benin | French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north) |
| Botswana | Setswana 78.2%, Kalanga 7.9%, Sekgalagadi 2.8%, English (official) 2.1%, other 8.6%, unspecified 0.4% (2001 census) |
| Burkina Faso | French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population |
| Burundi | Kirundi 29.7% (official), Kirundi and other language 9.1%, French (official) and French and other language 0.3%, Swahili and Swahili and other language 0.2% (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area), English and English and other language 0.06%, more than 2 languages 3.7%, unspecified 56.9% (2008 est.) |
| Cabo Verde | Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) |
| Cameroon | 24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official) |
| Central African Republic | French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages |
| Chad | French (official), Arabic (official), Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects |
| Comoros | Arabic (official), French (official), Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic) |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the | French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
| Congo, Republic of the | French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread) |
| Cote d'Ivoire | French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken |
| Djibouti | French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar |
| Egypt | Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes |
| Equatorial Guinea | Spanish (official) 67.6%, other (includes French (official), Fang, Bubi) 32.4% (1994 census) |
| Eritrea | Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages |
| Ethiopia | Oromo (official working language in the State of Oromiya) 33.8%, Amharic (official national language) 29.3%, Somali (official working language of the State of Sumale) 6.2%, Tigrigna (Tigrinya) (official working language of the State of Tigray) 5.9%, Sidamo 4%, Wolaytta 2.2%, Gurage 2%, Afar (official working language of the State of Afar) 1.7%, Hadiyya 1.7%, Gamo 1.5%, Gedeo 1.3%, Opuuo 1.2%, Kafa 1.1%, other 8.1%, English (major foreign language taught in schools), Arabic (2007 est.) |
| Gabon | French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi |
| Gambia, The | English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars |
| Ghana | Asante 14.8%, Ewe 12.7%, Fante 9.9%, Boron (Brong) 4.6%, Dagomba 4.3%, Dangme 4.3%, Dagarte (Dagaba) 3.7%, Akyem 3.4%, Ga 3.4%, Akuapem 2.9%, other (includes English (official)) 36.1% (2000 census) |
| Guinea | French (official) |
| note: each ethnic group has its own language | |
| Guinea-Bissau | Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages |
| Kenya | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages |
| Lesotho | Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
| Liberia | English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages few of which can be written or used in correspondence |
| Libya | Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq) |
| Madagascar | French (official), Malagasy (official), English |
| Malawi | English (official), Chichewa (common), Chinyanja, Chiyao, Chitumbuka, Chilomwe, Chinkhonde, Chingoni, Chisena, Chitonga, Chinyakyusa, Chilambya |
| Mali | French (official), Bambara 46.3%, Peul/foulfoulbe 9.4%, Dogon 7.2%, Maraka/soninke 6.4%, Malinke 5.6%, Sonrhai/djerma 5.6%, Minianka 4.3%, Tamacheq 3.5%, Senoufo 2.6%, unspecified 0.6%, other 8.5% |
| Mauritania | Arabic (official and national), Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof (all national languages), French, Hassaniya (a variety of Arabic) |
| Mauritius | Creole 86.5%, Bhojpuri 5.3%, French 4.1%, two languages 1.4%, other 2.6% (includes English, the official language, which is spoken by less than 1% of the population), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) |
| Morocco | Arabic (official), Berber languages (Tamazight (official), Tachelhit, Tarifit), French (often the language of business, government, and diplomacy) |
| Mozambique | Emakhuwa 25.3%, Portuguese (official) 10.7%, Xichangana 10.3%, Cisena 7.5%, Elomwe 7%, Echuwabo 5.1%, other Mozambican languages 30.1%, other 4% (1997 census) |
| Namibia | Oshiwambo languages 48.9%, Nama/Damara 11.3%, Afrikaans 10.4% (common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population), Otjiherero languages 8.6%, Kavango languages 8.5%, Caprivi languages 4.8%, English (official) 3.4%, other African languages 2.3%, other 1.7% |
| Niger | French (official), Hausa, Djerma |
| Nigeria | English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages |
| Rwanda | Kinyarwanda only (official, universal Bantu vernacular) 93.2%, Kinyarwanda and other language(s) 6.2%, French (official) and other language(s) 0.1%, English (official) and other language(s) 0.1%, Swahili (or Kiswahili, used in commercial centers) 0.02%, other 0.03%, unspecified 0.3% (2002 est.) |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Portuguese 98.4% (official), Forro 36.2%, Cabo Verdian 8.5%, French 6.8%, Angolar 6.6%, English 4.9%, Lunguie 1%, other (including sign language) 2.4% |
| note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2012 est.) | |
| Senegal | French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka |
| Seychelles | Seychellois Creole (official) 89.1%, English (official) 5.1%, French (official) 0.7%, other 3.8%, unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.) |
| Sierra Leone | English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%) |
| Somalia | Somali (official), Arabic (official, according to the Transitional Federal Charter), Italian, English |
| South Africa | IsiZulu (official) 22.7%, IsiXhosa (official) 16%, Afrikaans (official) 13.5%, English (official) 9.6%, Sepedi (official) 9.1%, Setswana (official) 8%, Sesotho (official) 7.6%, Xitsonga (official) 4.5%, siSwati (official) 2.5%, Tshivenda (official) 2.4%, isiNdebele (official) 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other 1.6% (2011 est.) |
| South Sudan | English (official), Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants), regional languages include Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande, Shilluk |
| Sudan | Arabic (official), English (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, Fur note: program of "Arabization" in process |
| Swaziland | English (official, used for government business), siSwati (official) |
| Tanzania | Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages |
| Togo | French (official, the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north) |
| Tunisia | Arabic (official, one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce), Berber (Tamazight) |
| Uganda | English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic |
| Western Sahara | Standard Arabic (national), Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic |
| Zambia | Bembe 33.4%, Nyanja 14.7%, Tonga 11.4%, Lozi 5.5%, Chewa 4.5%, Nsenga 2.9%, Tumbuka 2.5%, Lunda (North Western) 1.9%, Kaonde 1.8%, Lala 1.8%, Lamba 1.8%, English (official) 1.7%, Luvale 1.5%, Mambwe 1.3%, Namwanga 1.2%, Lenje 1.1%, Bisa 1%, other 9.2%, unspecified 0.4% |
| Zimbabwe | English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects |
Did you know?
Click languages are a group of languages found only in Africa in which clicks function as normal consonants. In all click languages, clicks form only a portion, though sometimes the main portion of the total number of consonants of the language. Clicks are used extensively in the vocabulary of Khoisan languages, and they are the initial sounds in approximately 70 percent of the words.
Click languages are a group of languages found only in Africa in which clicks function as normal consonants. In all click languages, clicks form only a portion, though sometimes the main portion of the total number of consonants of the language. Clicks are used extensively in the vocabulary of Khoisan languages, and they are the initial sounds in approximately 70 percent of the words.
