| |
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. |
 |
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. |
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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Languages of the World 
