Home - Languages - Languages of Africa
Languages of Africa
Official and Spoken Languages of African Countries
List of official, national and spoken languages of Africa.
Africa is a continent with a very high linguistic diversity, there are an estimated 1500-2000 African languages.
Of these languages four main groupings can be distinguished:
Afro-Asiatic
(approximately 200 languages) Covering nearly Northern Africa (including the horn of Africa, Central Sahara et the top Nile)
Nilo-Saharian
Gathering approximately 140 languages with some eleven millions speakers scattered in Central and Eastern Africa.
Niger-Saharian (Niger-Congo)
Covering the two third of Africa with as a principal branch the Niger-Congo which gathers more than 1000 languages with some 200 millions speakers. The Bantu languages of Central, Southern, and Eastern Africa form a sub-group of the Niger Congo branch.
Khoisan
Gathering about thirty languages in Western part of Southern Africa.
All African languages are considered official languages of the African Union
| African Countries | ||
| Country | Official & National Languages | Other spoken Languages |
| Algeria | Arabic, Berber languages, four dialects (by constitutional amendment) | French |
| Angola | Portuguese | Narrow Bantu like Umbundu and other African languages. |
| Benin | French | Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north) |
| Botswana | Setswana (national language with minor differences in dialects), English is the official business Language and it is widely spoken in urban areas | |
| Burkina Faso | French | Native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population |
| Burundi | Kirundi, French | Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) |
| Cameroon | English, French | 24 major African language groups |
| Cape Verde | Portuguese | Kabuverdianu (Crioulo) (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) |
| Central African Republic | Sangho (lingua franca and national language) | Banda, Gbaya and other tribal languages |
| Chad | French, Arabic | Sara (in south), more than 120 different languages and dialects |
| Comoros | Arabic, French | Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic) |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | French | Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba |
| Congo, Republic of the | French | Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread) |
| Côte d’Ivoire | French | 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken |
| Djibouti | French, Arabic | Somali, Afar |
| Egypt | Arabic | English and French widely understood by educated classes |
| Equatorial Guinea | Spanish, French | Pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo |
| Eritrea | Tigrinya (Tigrigna), Arabic, English | Tigré (second major language), Afar, Bedawi, Kunama, other Cushitic languages |
| Ethiopia | Amharic | Tigrinya, Oromo, Gurage, Somali, Arabic, 80 other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools) |
| Gabon | French | Bantu languages like Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi |
| Gambia, The | English | Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars |
| Ghana | English | African languages (including Akan, Adangme, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga) |
| Guinea | French (spoken by 15-20%) | Eight national languages, Soussou (Susu, in coastal Guinea), Peulh (Fulani, in Northrn Guinea), Maninka (Upper Guinea), Kissi (Kissidougou Region), Toma and Guerze (Kpelle) in rain forest Guinea; plus various ethnic groups with their own language |
| Guinea-Bissau | Portuguese | Crioulo (a mixture of Portuguese and African), other African languages |
| Kenya | English, Kiswahili | Numerous indigenous languages |
| Lesotho | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English | Zulu, Xhosa |
| Liberia | English 20% | Some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence |
| Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | Arabic | Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities |
| Madagascar | French, Malagasy | |
| Malawi | English, Nyanja (Chichewa, Chewa) | Lomwe, Tumbuka, Yao, other languages important regionally |
| Mali | French | Bambara (Bamanakan), Arabic and numerous dialects of Dogoso, Fulfulde, Koyracini, Senoufou, and Mandinka/Malinké (Maninkakan), Tamasheq are also widely spoken |
| Mauritania | Arabic | Hassaniya Arabic, Pulaar, Soninke, Wolof, French |
| Mauritius | English, French | Creole, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri |
| Morocco | Arabic | Berber dialects, French often the language of business, government, and diplomacy |
| Mozambique | Portuguese (spoken by 27% of population as a second language) | Makhuwa, Tsonga, Lomwe, Sena, numerous other indigenous languages |
| Namibia | English 7% | Afrikaans common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population, German 32%, indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama. |
| Niger | French | Hausa, Djerma |
| Nigeria | English | Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, Ijaw, Ibibio and about 250 other indigenous languages spoken by the different ethnic groups. |
| Réunion | French | Creole widely used |
| Rwanda | Rwanda (Kinyarwanda, Bantu vernacular) French, English | Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers. |
| Saint Helena | English | |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Portuguese | |
| Senegal | French | Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka |
| Seychelles | English, French | Creole |
| Sierra Leone | English (regular use limited to literate minority) | Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%) |
| Somalia | Somali | Arabic, Italian, English |
| South Africa | 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, Pedi, Sesotho (Sotho), siSwati (Swazi), Xitsonga (Tsonga), Tswana, Tshivenda (Venda), isiXhosa, isiZulu | |
| Sudan | Arabic | Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English. note: program of “Arabization” in process |
| Swaziland | English (government business conducted in English), siSwati | |
| Tanzania, United Republic of | Kiswahili (Swahili), Kiunguju (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education) | Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), Gogo, Haya, Makonde, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, Sukuma, Tumbuka, many other local languages. |
| Togo | French (the language of commerce) | Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north) |
| Tunisia | Arabic (and the languages of commerce) | French (commerce) |
| Uganda | English (used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts) | Ganda (Luganda; most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Acoli, Swahili, Arabic |
| Western Sahara | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | |
| Zambia | English | Major vernaculars: Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages. |
| Zimbabwe | English | Chishona (Shona), Sindebele (Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects like: Sotho and Nambya, Shangani, Venda, Chewa, Nyanja, and Tonga. |