South Africa

South African language

south africa flag

The Republic of South Africa is a country belonging to Africa, whose capitals are Cape Town (legislative), Pretoria (executive) and Bloemfontein (judicial). It has a population of 58 million inhabitants (24th) and an area of ​​1,221,037 km 2 (24th). Its human development index is medium (113º) and its official currency is the South African rand. And what language is spoken in South Africa?

What language do they speak in South Africa?

South Africa is one of the countries with the most official languages, up to 11 languages ​​(2 of European origin and 9 autochthonous). The percentages as first language are:

  1. Zulu (22.7%)
  2. Xose (16%)
  3. Afrikaans (13.5%)
  4. English (9.6% first language, 31% total)
  5. Sesoto sa leboa (9.1%)
  6. Setswana (8%)
  7. Sesotho (7.6%)
  8. Tsonga (4.5%)
  9. Swazi (2.5%)
  10. Sell ​​(2.4%)
  11. Southern Ndebele (2.1%)

The two languages ​​with European origin are English and Afrikaans (derived from Dutch). The remaining nine languages ​​are from the Bantu family. The regions dominated by these languages ​​are the following:

language map official languages ​​south africa

In addition to the official languages, there are 8 national languages ​​recognized by the constitution: Fanagalo, Fuci, Joi, Lobedu, Nama, North Ndebele, San, and Tamil. These may be used in certain official uses in areas where these languages ​​have been determined to be prevalent.

The Zulu, Xosa, Swazi, and Southern Ndebele languages

Zulu (isiZulu), Xosa (isiXhosa), Swazi (siSwati), and Southern Ndebele (isiNdebele) belong to the Nguni group of languages, within the Bantu family.

map percentage population speaks nguni languages ​​south africa

The Sesotho, Setswana and Sesotho sa leboa languages

The Sesoto (Sesotho), Setswana (Setswana) and Sesoto sa leboa (Sesotho sa leboa) belong to the Sotho-Tswanga group, within the Bantu family.

map percentage population speak languages ​​Sotho Tswana South Africa

English and Afrikaans languages

English (English) and Afrikaans (Afrikaans) are languages ​​of European origin, belonging to the West Germanic family. They are the colonial-era legacy of the British (English) and Dutch (Afrikaans) empires. Afrikaans has been evolving from Dutch, assimilating vocabulary from English, Malay, Portuguese, and various Zulu languages ​​of the areas in which they live.

map percentage population speaks west germanic languages ​​south africa

The Tsonga and Venda languages

The Tsonga (Xitsonga) and Venda (Tshivenda), despite belonging to the Bantu family, are not from the same group as the rest. The Tsonga belongs to the Tswa-ronga group.

Share the languages ​​spoken in South Africa.

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