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
(appoximately 200 languages) covering nearly Northern Africa (including the horn of Africa, Central Sahara et the top Nile)
Nilo-Saharian
gathering appoximately 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 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
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/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