| Demographic Table for African LCTLs |
|
| Language Name(s) |
Country |
Mother Tongue (L1) Speakers |
Most Recent Year of
Cited Data |
Current Usage &
Socio-cultural Importance |
|
| Acholi |
Uganda
& Sudan |
774,000 |
1991 |
|
|
| Afar |
Ethiopia,
Djibouti & Eritrea |
1.6M |
1998 |
|
|
| Afrikaans |
South
Africa |
6.2M |
1991 |
national |
|
| Akan/Twi |
Ghana |
7M (L2) |
1995 |
|
|
| Anye (Anyin)/ Baule |
Cote
D'Ivoire & Ghana |
2.94M |
1995 |
|
|
| Amharic |
Ethiopia
& Israel |
17.41M |
1998 |
|
|
| Ancient Egyptian |
|
extinct |
|
|
|
| Arabic (spoken forms) |
Algeria,
Chad, Libya, Morocco, Sudan & Tunisia |
68M |
1996 |
|
|
| Balanta-Ganji |
Senegal |
94,500 |
1998 |
|
|
| Balanta-Kentohe |
Guinea-Bisau |
327,000 |
1995 |
|
|
| Bamana/ Bambara/ Mandingo/ Mandina/ Maninka/
Dyula |
Mali,
Gambia, Senegal, Guinea & Cote d'Ivoire |
6.27M |
1998 |
national
(Senegal) |
|
| Bamileke |
NOT
IN ETHNOLOGUE/ ALT NAME? |
|
|
|
|
| Bandi/ Mende/ Loko |
Liberia,
Guinea, Sierra Leone |
1.7M |
1993 |
trade |
|
| Bassa |
Liberia |
347,000 |
1991 |
|
|
| Bedawi |
Sudan
& Eritrea |
1.7M |
1993 |
|
|
| Bemba |
Zambia,
DRC & Tunisia |
2.4 M |
1993 |
|
|
| Berber/Tamazight/ Kabylle |
Morocco
& Algeria |
6-9M |
1998 |
|
|
| Beti |
Cameroon |
2M |
no yr cited |
trade |
|
| Chewa/ Nyanja |
Malawi |
3.96M |
1993 |
national |
|
| Chiga |
Uganda |
1.39M |
1991 |
|
|
| Chokwe/ Lunda |
DRC,
Angola & Zambia |
1.3M |
1993 |
|
|
| Comorian |
Comoros
Islands |
586,000 |
1993 |
|
|
| Coptic |
Egypt |
|
|
liturgical |
|
| Creole French |
Reunion
& Seychelles |
623,000 |
1987 |
|
|
| Dan |
Cote
D'Ivoire |
800,000 |
1993 |
|
|
| Dinka/ Agar/ Bor/ Padang |
Sudan |
1.35M |
1986 |
|
|
| Edo/ Bini |
Nigeria |
1M |
1987 |
national |
|
| Efik/ Ibibio |
Nigeria |
4M (L1+L2) |
1998 |
trade |
|
| Éwé/ Mina/ Fon |
Ghana,
Togo & Benin (Fon-gbe) |
3.86M |
1993 |
national
(Ghana) |
|
| Fang |
Equ
Guinea & Gabon |
777,000 |
1995 |
|
|
| Fula/ Fufulde/ Pulaar/ Peul |
Cameroon,
Niger, Nideria, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bisau, Mali & Mauritania |
12.1M |
1998 |
national
(Niger, Nigeria & Senegal) |
|
| Fuuta Jalon |
Guinea |
2.55M |
1991 |
national |
|
| Ga |
Ghana
& Togo |
300,000 |
no yr cited |
|
|
| Ganda/ Luganda |
Uganda
& Tanzania |
3M |
1991 |
|
|
| Gbaya |
Sudan,
Congo, Cameroon, & Central Afr Rep. |
683,000 |
1998 |
|
|
| Gikuyu (Kikuyu) |
Kenya |
5.35M |
1994 |
|
|
| Gogo/ Chigogo |
Tanzania |
1.3M |
1992 |
|
|
| Gurage--all dialects |
Ethiopia |
1.9M |
1998 |
|
|
| Gusii |
Kenya |
1.58M |
1994 |
|
|
| Hassaniyya |
Mauritania |
2.2M |
1998 |
|
|
| Hausa |
Niger
& Nigeria |
23.5M |
1998 |
national |
|
| Hehe |
Tanzania |
750,000 |
|
|
|
| Idoma |
Nigeria |
600,000 |
1991 |
national |
|
| Igbira |
Nigeria |
1M |
1989 |
|
|
| Igbo |
Nigeria |
18M |
1999 |
national |
|
| Ijo (Izon) |
Nigeria |
1.77M |
1991 |
|
|
| Jula |
Burkina
Faso |
3-4M (L2) |
1990 |
national |
|
| Kalenjin/ Nandi/ Kipsigis |
Kenya |
2.46M |
1989 |
|
|
| Kamba/ Kikama |
Kenya |
2.45M |
1989 |
|
|
| Kanuri |
Niger
& Nigeria |
3.3M |
1998 |
|
|
| Khoi-Khoi/ San/ Khoisan Language family |
Angola,
Botswana, Namibia, South Africa & Tanzania |
348,000 |
1995 |
|
|
| Kongo |
Angola
& DRC |
2.14M |
1990 |
national
(DRC) |
|
| Kpelle |
Guinea
& Liberia |
795,000 |
1991 |
|
|
| Krio |
Sierra
Leone |
472,000 |
1993 |
|
|
| Kru/ Bassa/ (Basa) |
Liberia.
Sierra Leone. Nigeria & Cote d'Ivoire |
1.7M |
1998 |
|
|
| Kwanyama |
Namibia |
714,000 |
1991 |
|
|
| Lingala/ Ngala (with Bangala) |
DRC
& Congo |
7.3M (L1+L2) |
1999 |
national
(DRC) |
|
| Lozi/ Silozi |
Zimbabwe,
Namibia & Zambia |
559,000 |
1993 |
national
(Namibia) |
|
| Luba/ Kituba/ Chiluba |
DRC |
10.5M |
1991 |
|
|
| Luo/ Achioli/ Longo |
Kenya,
Tanzania & Uganda |
4.4M |
1994 |
|
|
| LUGANDA:
see Ganda |
|
|
|
|
|
| Luhya/Luyia |
Kenya |
3.42M |
1989 |
|
|
| Maasai |
Kenya
& Tanzania |
983,000 |
1994 |
|
|
| Makuwa/ Lomwe |
Mozambique |
3.8M |
1996 |
|
|
| Malagasy |
Madagascar |
13M |
1996 |
national |
|
| Mbundu, Loanda/ Kimbundu |
Angola |
3M |
1999 |
|
|
| Menu |
NOT
IN ETHNOLOGUE/ ALT. NAMES? |
|
|
|
|
| Meru |
Kenya |
1.3M |
1994 |
|
|
| Mongo/ Nkundo |
Chad
& DRC |
4.85M |
1993 |
|
|
| Mooré/ More/ Mossi |
Burkina
Faso |
5M |
1998 |
national |
|
| Mauritian Creole/ Morisyen |
Mauritius |
600,000 |
1989 |
|
|
| Munukutuba |
Congo |
1.16M |
1987 |
national |
|
| Nama/ Damara |
Namibia |
176,200 (total
all countries: 233,000) |
1992 |
|
|
| Nubian (Nobiin) |
Sudan
& Egypt |
545,000 |
1996 |
|
|
| Nuer |
Sudan
& Ethiopia |
805,000 |
1998 |
|
|
| Nupe |
Nigeria |
800,000 |
1990 |
trade |
|
| Nyakusa (Nyakusa-Ngonde) |
Tanzania
& Malawi |
1.05M |
1993 |
|
|
| Nyankore |
Uganda |
1.64M |
|
|
|
| Nyoro |
Uganda |
495,443 |
1991 |
|
|
| Oromo--all varieties |
Ethiopia,
Egypt & Kenya |
17M |
1998 |
|
|
| Pedi
(Transvaal Sotho or Northern Sotho) |
South
Africa & Botswana |
3,854 |
1995 |
|
|
| Pidgin, Cameroon (West African Pidgin English) |
Cameroon |
2M (L2) |
1989 |
|
|
| Rwanda/ Rundi |
Burundi
& Rwanda |
10.2M |
1999 |
national |
|
| Sango |
Central
African Republic |
350,000 |
1988 |
national |
|
| Sena |
Mozambique |
1.09M |
1980 |
|
|
| Senufo |
NOT
IN ETHNOLOGUE/ ALT. NAMES? |
|
|
|
|
| Sara Serere/Sine (Serer) |
Senegal |
1.03M |
1998 |
national |
|
| Shona |
Zimbabwe |
6.23M |
1989 |
|
|
| Sidamo |
Ethiopia |
1.87M |
1998 |
|
|
| Somali |
Ethiopia
& Somalia |
8.2-9.8M |
1998 |
national
(Somalia) |
|
| Songhai |
Burkina-Faso |
125,000 |
1998 |
|
|
| Soninke |
Mali,
Gambia, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal & Mauritania |
1.07M |
1998 |
|
|
| Sotho/ Ndebele/ Tswana |
South
Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia |
10.2M |
1995 |
national (S
Africa, Lesotho & Botswana) |
|
| Sukuma/ Nyamwezi |
Tanzania |
5.92M |
1993 |
|
|
| Suppire |
Mali |
364000 |
1991 |
|
|
| Susu |
Guinea
& Sierra Leone |
920,000 |
1993 |
|
|
| Swahili |
Dem.
Rep. of Congo |
9M (L2) |
1991 |
|
|
| Swati/ Swazi |
Swaziland
& S Africa |
|
1995 |
|
|
| Tachelhit |
Morocco |
3M |
1998 |
|
|
| Tarafit |
Morocco |
1.5M |
1991 |
|
|
| Temne/ Themne |
Sierra
Leone |
1.2M |
1989 |
|
|
| Tigrigna |
Eritrea
& Ethiopia |
4.12M |
1998 |
national |
|
| Tiv |
Nigeria |
2.2M |
1991 |
|
|
| Tsonga/ Shitsonga Ronga or Shronga Tswa or
Shitswa |
Mozambique,
S Africa & Swaziland |
3.17M |
1995 |
|
|
| Tumbuka/ Chitumbuka |
Malawi |
662,000 |
1999 |
national |
|
| Turkana/ Teso |
Kenya,
Uganda, Ethiopia & Sudan |
1.82M |
1998 |
|
|
| Umbundu |
Angola |
4M |
1990 |
|
|
| Afar |
|
980,000 |
1998 |
|
|
| Amharic |
|
17.4M |
1998 |
national |
|
| Gamo-Gofa-Dawro |
|
1.24M |
1998 |
|
|
| Venda |
S
Africa & Zimbabwe |
750,000 |
1995 |
|
|
| Wolaytta |
Ethiopia |
1.23M |
1998 |
|
|
| Wolof |
Senegal
& Mauritania |
3.18M |
1998 |
national
(Senegal) |
|
| Xhosa |
South
Africa |
6.86M |
1995 |
|
|
| Yao/ Makonde/ Bulu |
Malawi,
Tanzania, Mozambique & Cameroon |
2.9M (plus
800,000 L2 in Cameroon) |
1993 |
|
|
| Yoruba |
Nigeria
& Benin |
19.3M |
1993 |
|
|
| Zande/ Azande |
DRC,
CAR & Sudan |
1M |
no yr cited |
|
|
| Zulu |
S
Africa, Malawi, Mozambique & Swaziland |
8.9M |
1995 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|