Home›African Language Families›In Group›Nilo-SaharanGroupNilo-SaharanThis group collects members of the Nilo-Saharan family, a proposed grouping of roughly 210 languages spoken by about 70 million people across seventeen African nations along the upper Chari and Nile river basins, comprising the Nilotic branch (Western, Eastern and Southern, including the Luo, Maa and Kalenjin languages), the Central Sudanic, Eastern Sudanic, Saharan and Songhay branches, and several smaller proposed members. Placement follows each member's own description naming it Nilo-Saharan, Nilotic, Sudanic, Saharan or Songhay, or one of these named branches.FactsNilo-SaharanSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsComparisonEstimated Living LanguagesWell-attested210 1Nilo-SaharanFilter Results52 entriesParent Family (Classification Tree)AllCentral Sudanic (2)Mangbutu-Lese languages (1)Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi languages (1)RegionAllChad and southern Libya (1)Chad, Central African Republic (1)Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda (1)Chad, Sudan (1)Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic (1)Darfur region of western Sudan and adjoining Chad (1)From southern Egypt to northern Tanzania (1)Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda (1)Kenya and northern Tanzania (1)Kordofan and Darfur, Sudan; Wadai, Chad (1)Nuba Hills (1)Nuba Mountains of Sudan (1)Nuba Mountains of the South Kordofan region of Sudan (1)Nuba Mountains, Sudan (2)Raja County, South Sudan (1)Southern Nuba Mountains, in the south of Sudan. (1)Southwestern Ethiopia and southeastern South Sudan (1)Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad (1)The Nuba Hills (Nuba Mountains) of Sudan. (1)western Kenya, eastern Uganda (1)Western Kenya, eastern Uganda, northern Tanzania (2)Speaker Count BandAll400.000000 (1)10000.000000 (1)50000.000000 (1)60000.000000 (1)75000.000000 (1)79000.000000 (1)103050.000000 (1)164000.000000 (1)196000.000000 (1)249000.000000 (1)375000.000000 (1)377000.000000 (1)542000.000000 (1)580000.000000 (1)1000000.000000 (1)2000000.000000 (1)15000000.000000 (1)31000000.000000 (1)70000000.000000 (1)Macro-areaAllNilo-Saharan (52)BrowseCompareSelect all 52Bagirmi languagesNilo-SaharanBertaNilo-SaharanBongo-Baka languagesNilo-SaharanBurun languagesNilo-SaharanCentral SudanicNilo-SaharanDajuNilo-SaharanEastern JebelNilo-SaharanEastern Nilotic languagesNilo-SaharanEastern Sudanic languagesNilo-SaharanElgon languagesNilo-SaharanFurNilo-SaharanGumuzNilo-SaharanHeiban LanguagesNilo-SaharanHill Nubian languagesNilo-SaharanKaduNilo-SaharanKalenjin languagesNilo-SaharanKir-Abbaian LanguagesNilo-SaharanKomanNilo-SaharanKomuz languagesNilo-SaharanKordofanianNilo-SaharanKreshNilo-SaharanKresh-Aja LanguagesNilo-SaharanKuliakNilo-SaharanKunamaNilo-SaharanLafofaNilo-SaharanLenduic languagesNilo-SaharanLuoNilo-SaharanMaa languagesNilo-SaharanMabanNilo-SaharanMangbetu languagesNilo-SaharanMangbutu-Lese languagesNilo-SaharanMimi of DecorseNilo-SaharanNara languageNilo-SaharanNilo-SaharanNilo-SaharanNiloticNilo-SaharanNorthern Eastern Sudanic languagesNilo-SaharanNubianNilo-SaharanNyimaNilo-SaharanNyimang LanguagesNilo-SaharanSaharanNilo-SaharanSara languagesNilo-SaharanSara-Bongo-Bagirmi languagesNilo-SaharanShaboNilo-SaharanSouthern Eastern Sudanic languagesNilo-SaharanSouthern Nilotic languagesNilo-SaharanSurmicNilo-SaharanTalodi LanguagesNilo-SaharanTalodi-HeibanNilo-SaharanTaman languagesNilo-SaharanTebu languagesNilo-SaharanTemeinNilo-SaharanWestern Nilotic languagesNilo-SaharanSources1. Wikipedia: Nilo-Saharan Languagestier 2Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first paragraphQuote, Lead section, first paragraphThe Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed linguistic family consisting of around 210 Native African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet.View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.