Setswana, also known by its native name Tswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Sepedi and Sesotho languages, as well as the Sekgaladi and likely the Silozi language.
Facts
ISO 639-3 Code Speaker Count1993 figure for Botswana only, per the infobox, which notes further unknown numbers of speakers in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The article's lead gives a broader regional estimate of about 8.2 million total, which is not a single sourced infobox figure and is not captured here. StatusWikipedia article on Tswana: a currently spoken living language with an active native-speaker population; checked 2026-09-27. Classification
Language Kind Official Status Connections
In Family
Source Wikipedia: Tswana Language
Source Wikipedia: Tswana Language
Written In
Tswana is standardly written in the Latin alphabet.
In the Other Atlases
Original Language Of
Also in Film and Media Atlas: a work originally in this language.
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Wikipedia: Tswana LanguageLead sentence 1tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 1
Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people.
Sources
1. Glottolog: Tswana (Glottolog languoid tswa1253)
GlottologEndangerment, AES statusQuote, Endangerment, AES status
AES status: not endangered
2. Wikipedia: Tswana Language
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Sepedi and Sesotho languages, as well as the Sekgaladi and likely the Silozi language.
Infobox: iso2
tsn
Infobox: date
1993
Lead section
It is a lingua franca in Botswana and parts of South Africa, particularly North West Province.
Infobox, Official language in
Botswana
In Family: Atlantic-Congo, Infobox: fam2
Atlantic-Congo
In Family: Southern Bantu languages, Infobox: fam8
Southern Bantu
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