Zulu, also known by its endonym isiZulu, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch, indigenous to Southern Africa and concentrated in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It became one of South Africa's 12 official languages in 1994.
Facts
ISO 639-3 Code Speaker Count2013-2017 estimate, first-language (L1) speakers, per the infobox; the lead paragraph elsewhere cites a slightly higher figure of about 13.56 million. StatusWikipedia article on Zulu: a currently spoken living language with an active native-speaker population; checked 2026-09-27. Attested From (Year) RegionKwaZulu-Natal and southern Mpumalanga; scattered communities elsewhere 2 Classification
Language Kind Official Status Connections
In Family
Source Wikipedia: Zulu Language
Source Wikipedia: Zulu Language
Written In
Zulu is standardly written in the Latin alphabet.
In the Other Atlases
Cases Where Used
Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.
Source Wikipedia: ZuluLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 3Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Zulu people (; Zulu: amaZulu) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni.
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 Glottolog
Sources
1. Glottolog: Zulu (Glottolog languoid zulu1248)
GlottologEndangerment, AES statusQuote, Endangerment, AES status
AES status: not endangered
2. Wikipedia: Zulu Language
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Zulu ( ZOO-loo), also known by its endonym isiZulu, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa with about 13.56 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Infobox, ISO 639-3
zul
Infobox: date
2013-2017
Infobox, Region
KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mpumalanga; scattered communities elsewhere
Official status, Zulu entity page
It became one of South Africa's 12 official languages in 1994.
In Family: Atlantic-Congo, Infobox: fam2
Atlantic-Congo
In Family: Southern Bantu languages, Infobox, Language family
Southern Bantu
View the Source 3. Omniglot: Zulu language, alphabet and pronunciation
OmniglotLanguage at a glanceQuote, Language at a glance
First written : 1837
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