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 6TanzaniaRegion5 entriesTogoRegion3 entriesTunisiaRegion2 entriesUgandaRegion3 entriesWest AfricaRegion10 entriesZambiaRegion1 entryShowing 51 to 56 of 56, page 2 of 2.← Previous12Sources1. 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.