Languages of the African Union

Overview

Languages of AU states

• – The Constitution of Algeria defines the official languages as Arabic and Berber. French is spoken by governmental and educational elite. There is also an Algerian Sign Language.
• – Portuguese is the official language, and many people speak one or several of 41 Bantu or Khoisan languages.
• – French is the official language, with Fon and Yoruba being the most common languages in the south. At least six major languages are spoken in the north.
• – English and Tswana are the official languages, with Tswana being the most common national language. There are significant communities that speak Ikalanga and Sekgalagadi.
• – French is the official language. Mossi, Dyula and Fula are the national languages. Most speak one of the Sudanic languages.
• – French and Kirundi are co-official. Many persons also speak Swahili.
• – English and French are co-official, with Cameroonian Pidgin English widely spoken. Twenty-four major African language families and sub-groups are present in Cameroon. Cameroon is one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world.
• – Portuguese is official. The officialization of Cape Verdean Creole is under discussion.
• – French and Sango are co-official; the former is the lingua franca. Sango is the local language with the most speakers, 70 languages are listed in the Ethnologue report for the country.
• – Arabic and French are co-official, with over 120 other languages spoken.
• – Arabic, French, and Comorian are co-official; the latter is a Swahili dialect, albeit heavily influenced by Arabic and French.
• – French is official, with four national languages: Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili, and Tshiluba. There are an estimated total of 242 languages spoken in the DRC.
• – French is official, but is only spoken by the cultural elite. Lingala and Kituba are national linguae francae; the latter is a creole of Kikongo.
• – French is official, with some 60 indigenous languages, of which the Dioula dialect of Bambara is the most widely spoken. Other languages include: the Gur languages, the Kru languages, and the Kwa languages.
• – Arabic and French are co-official; Afar and Somali are widely spoken.
• – Arabic is official, with Egyptian Arabic being the most common spoken language. English and French are major languages for education and trade. See languages of Egypt
• – Spanish, French and Portuguese are official. Other languages include Annobonese, Bubi, Fang, Igbo, and Pichinglis.
• – There is no official language per se, but Arabic, English, Italian and Tigrinya are used by the government. Other common languages include Afar, Blin, Kunama, Nara, Saho, and Tigre. Ge'ez is the liturgical language of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church.
• – Amharic is official, among more than 80 languages spoken. English is widely spoken and taught in secondary school.
• – French is official, and many African languages are spoken.
• – English is official, and many African languages are also spoken, notably Wolof.
• – English is official, Akan, Dagaare/Wale, Dagbane, Dangme, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem and Nzema are government-recognized languages sponsored by the Bureau of Ghana Languages.
• – French is official, Fula, Mandinka and Susu is the lingua franca.
• – Portuguese is official, but the most widely spoken language is a Portuguese-based creole language, Kriol.
• – Swahili and English are official, and many other African languages are also spoken.
• – Sesotho and English are official.
• – English is official, many African languages are spoken.
• – Arabic is official, Tamazight is spoken by about 10% of the population. Italian is understood by some older Libyans.
• – Malagasy, French are official.
• – Chichewa or Nyanja and English are official.
• – French is official, Bambara is the primary lingua franca. Of the 50 languages spoken, 13 are classified national languages, including Bambara, Fula, Sonrai, and Soninke
• – Arabic is official; other languages spoken include: Pulaar, Soninke, and Wolof.. French is used by upper classes.
• – English is the de jure official language but French is more widely spoken, making it the de facto official language. The vernacular language is Mauritian Creole which derives from French. Tamil, Hindi and other Indian languages are spoken by the Indian community. Arabic, Portuguese and a number of Chinese varieties like Hakka and Mandarin are also spoken by some.
• – Arabic and Berber. French is also widely spoken.
• – Portuguese is the official language. Makua, Sena, Ndau, Tsonga and Swahili are spoken by a sizable amount of the population. The educated often speak English as a second or third language. The Arab, Indian and Chinese communities speak their own languages.
• – The official language is English. Half of all Namibians speak Oshiwambo as their first language, whereas the most widely understood language is Afrikaans. Most Whites in Namibia speak Afrikaans or German which were the official languages before independence.
• – French is the official language. Hausa, Djerma, Tamajaq, Fulfulde are important African languages.
• – English is the official language, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Efik, Edo, Adamawa, Fulfulde, Idoma, and Central Kanuri are all widely spoken. 510 languages currently exist with native speakers in Nigeria.
• – Kinyarwanda, French, and English are official languages. Kinyarwanda is the mother tongue of the vast majority of the population.. French and English are only spoken by a minority, and Swahili is used as a vehicular language.
• – Portuguese is the official language, spoken by 95% of the population. Other languages include the Portuguese-based creoles Forro, Angolar and Principense.
• – French is the official language, used regularly by a minority of Senegalese educated in a system styled upon the colonial-era schools of French origin. Most persons also speak their own ethnic language while, especially in Dakar, Wolof is the lingua franca. Pulaar is spoken by the Fulas and Toucouleur. Various Portuguese Creoles are spoken in Senegal by those from Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe.
• – English, French and Seychellois Creole are official. As Seychelles had no indigenous population, many languages are spoken by the various African, Chinese, European, and Indian peoples who colonized it. Seychellois Creole is the lingua franca between these groups.
• – English is the official language but it is only understood by a minority. Most persons speak their ethnic language.
• – Somali and Arabic are official. Somali is the most spoken language. Other Afro-Asiatic languages are also spoken in some areas, such as Maay, Dabarre, and Tunni. In addition, some Niger–Congo languages are spoken by ethnic minorities in parts of the south, including Chimwiini and Kibajuni as well as Mushunguli. English is also widely used and taught in schools. Italian used to be a major language, but its influence significantly diminished following independence.
• – South Africa has 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sesotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. Before 1994 during the Apartheid era, only Afrikaans and English had official status.
• – English is official. Juba Arabic, Bari, Dinka, Luo, Murle, Nuer, Zande and 60 languages are spoken.
• – Arabic and English are the official languages. Many African languages are spoken in both North and South Sudan.
• – English and siSwati are the official languages. Zulu is widely spoken in the southern region of the country.
• – English and Swahili are official. Nevertheless, only the latter is a real lingua franca. Gujarati is spoken by many in the Indian community. About 120 indigenous languages from all the four language families of Africa are spoken.
• – French is the official language. Ewe and Kabiye are national languages.
• – Classical Arabic is official, French is often used as a language of commerce. A small percentage speaks the Berber language, with its varieties like Tamezret-Berber, Matmata-Berber, Sened-Berber and Djerbi-Berber.
• – English and Swahili are official. Nonetheless, Swahili is not the most widely used vernacular language despite being the vehicular language of the populace. Indeed, Ganda is the most spoken language. Minoritiy languages include Soga, Nkole, Kiga, Teso, Masaba, Nyoro
• – The official languages are Arabic and Spanish.
• – English is the official language, many African languages are spoken by the country's roughly 72 different ethnic groups, with Nyanja being the most widely spoken.
• – English is the official language, but is the native language of only 2% of the population, while Shona and Ndebele are spoken by the majority of the population.