|
Country
|
Official and 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
|
French, 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.
|
|
Libya
|
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
|
|
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São Tomé and Príncipe
|
Portuguese
|
|
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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/South
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.
|
Sources:
Ethnologue, ISO Country Names (ISO 3166-1), ISO Languages Names (ISO
639-1), African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) and others.
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