Home›African Language Families›RegionBrowse ByRegionRegion names where a language family is spoken today, which can be far wider than where it began. Wikipedia notes several Indo-European languages "have expanded through colonialism in the modern period and are now spoken across Africa, Americas, Oceania and North Asia." This dimension shows the present-day reach of a family rather than only its point of origin.FactsRegionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsComparisonEstimated Living LanguagesWell-attested2100 1RegionFilter Results56 entriesMacro-areaAllAfrican Language Isolates and Small Families (5)African Sign Languages (6)Afroasiatic: Berber and Egyptian (13)Afroasiatic: Chadic (3)Afroasiatic: Cushitic and Omotic (7)Afroasiatic: Semitic (1)Bantu Languages (13)Khoisan (6)Nilo-Saharan (15)Other Niger-Congo (25)Parent Family (Classification Tree)AllAfro-Asiatic (3)Atlantic-Congo (1)Bantu (1)Benue-Congo (2)Central Sudanic (5)Chadic (1)Cushitic (2)Ethio-Semitic (1)Mande (2)Mbum-Day languages (1)Niger-Congo (4)Omotic (1)Volta-Congo (2)Speaker Count BandAll0 (1)1 to 570 (2)24,600 to 795,000 (18)592 to 23,000 (1)798,400 to 3,238,000,000 (29)Reconstructed AncestorAllReconstructed (14)Classification StatusAllEstablished (45)Number of LanguagesAll1 (3)2 (12)16 to 1,408 (23)3 to 5 (16)6 to 15 (22)In GroupAllAfrican Language Isolates and Small Families (5)African Sign Languages (6)Afroasiatic: Berber and Egyptian (13)Afroasiatic: Chadic (3)Afroasiatic: Cushitic and Omotic (7)Afroasiatic: Semitic (1)Bantu Languages (13)Khoisan (6)Nilo-Saharan (15)Other Niger-Congo (25)Admission YearAll1958 (1)1967 (1)Area (sq km)All5582.83 (1)11,300 (1)20,156 (1)23,200 (1)36,125 (1)56,785 (1)73,252 (1)111,369 (1)114,763 (1)163,610 (1)196,722 (1)239,567 (1)241,038 (1)245,857 (1)267,668 (1)274,223 (1)322,462 (1)342,000 (1)446,550 (1)475,442 (1)580,367 (1)581,730 (1)622,984 (1)637,657 (1)644,329 (1)752,617 (1)825,615 (1)923,769 (1)947,303 (1)996,603 (1)1,104,300 (1)1,141,748 (1)1,241,238 (1)1,246,700 (1)1,267,000 (1)1,280,000 (1)1,759,541 (1)1,882,757 (1)1,886,068 (1)2,345,409 (1)2,381,741 (1)2,650,670 (1)3,053,200 (1)3,237,500 (1)3,678,394 (1)6,045,741 (1)6,142,700 (1)6,611,667 (1)7,222,000 (1)7,862,221 (1)8,486,460 (1)8,510,346 (1)17,840,000 (1)23,902,664.3 (1)30,370,000 (1)44,579,000 (1)Country CountAll12 (1)49 (1)54 (1)Government TypeAllConstitutional Monarchy (1)Republic (34)Highest Elevation (m)All5895 (1)6967 (1)8849 (1)Income GroupAllLow (15)Lower-Middle (18)Upper-Middle (6)Independence or Founding YearAll1810 (1)1822 (1)1847 (1)1922 (1)1951 (1)1956 (3)1957 (1)1958 (1)1960 (15)1961 (2)1962 (2)1963 (1)1964 (1)1965 (1)1966 (1)1974 (1)1975 (1)1977 (1)1990 (1)1995 (1)2011 (1)LandlockedAllNo (27)Yes (10)PopulationAll1,066,809 (1)2,080,000 (1)2,359,609 (1)2,422,712 (1)2,647,400 (1)3,022,401 (1)4,406,200 (1)4,461,260 (1)5,437,249 (1)5,513,282 (1)6,228,784 (1)7,361,263 (1)8,460,512 (1)9,583,381 (1)11,972,169 (1)12,703,714 (1)15,170,420 (1)17,521,167 (1)18,847,519 (1)19,655,000 (1)20,031,602 (1)20,216,029 (1)22,489,126 (1)24,745,000 (1)28,814,878 (1)30,987,821 (1)31,500,000 (1)35,039,451 (1)36,604,681 (1)36,828,330 (1)45,905,417 (1)46,300,000 (1)47,400,000 (1)51,767,437 (1)52,695,952 (1)54,200,000 (1)67,462,121 (1)74,000,000 (1)95,000,000 (1)106,510,000 (1)109,139,000 (1)116,452,000 (1)138,000,000 (1)140,683,144 (1)150,400,000 (1)189,268,366 (1)213,421,037 (1)242,747,130 (1)270,500,000 (1)434,254,119 (1)468,200,000 (1)469,300,000 (1)537,900,000 (1)1,137,938,708 (1)1,393,676,444 (1)4,694,576,167 (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 50AfricaRegion190 entriesAlgeriaRegion4 entriesAngolaRegion1 entryThe Arabian PeninsulaRegion1 entryAsiaRegion1 entryBaliRegion1 entryBeninRegion3 entriesBotswanaRegion1 entryBrazilRegion1 entryBurkina FasoRegion2 entriesCameroonRegion5 entriesCentral AfricaRegion12 entriesCentral African RepublicRegion1 entryChadRegion8 entriesColombiaRegion1 entryCote d'IvoireRegion6 entriesCross River StateRegion1 entryDemocratic Republic of the CongoRegion6 entriesDjiboutiRegion2 entriesEast AfricaRegion4 entriesEgyptRegion1 entryEthiopiaRegion9 entriesGabonRegion1 entryGambiaRegion1 entryGhanaRegion1 entryGuineaRegion4 entriesGuinea-BissauRegion1 entryThe Horn of AfricaRegion2 entriesKenyaRegion6 entriesLiberiaRegion4 entriesLibyaRegion4 entriesThe MaghrebRegion1 entryMaliRegion4 entriesThe Middle EastRegion1 entryMoroccoRegion4 entriesNamibiaRegion1 entryNigerRegion5 entriesNigeriaRegion17 entriesNorth AfricaRegion2 entriesOceaniaRegion1 entryRepublic of the CongoRegion1 entryThe SahelRegion2 entriesSenegalRegion1 entrySierra LeoneRegion3 entriesSomaliaRegion3 entriesSouth AmericaRegion1 entrySouth SudanRegion5 entriesSouthern AfricaRegion6 entriesSub-Saharan AfricaRegion5 entriesSudanRegion12 entriesShowing 1 to 50 of 56, page 1 of 2.12Next →Sources1. Wikipedia: Languages Of AfricaWikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead sectionThe number of languages natively spoken in Africa is variously estimated (depending on the delineation of language vs. dialect) at between 1,250 and 2,100, and by some counts at over 3,000.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.