Languages of Zimbabwe

24 languages of the index are spoken in Zimbabwe; 15 have official status (Xhosa, Ndau, English and Venda). The country has about 15.2 m inhabitants (2022).

24 languages3 endangered or dormantAfricaISO ZW / ZWE

Official languages

xhoXhosaNiger–Congo · 19.2 m1 · National ndcNdauNiger–Congo5 · Developing engEnglishIndo-European · 1.13 bn0 · International venVendaNiger–Congo · 1.3 m1 · National nyaChewaNiger–Congo · 12 m3 · Wider Communication kckKalangaNiger–Congo5 · Developing snaShonaNiger–Congo · 9 m3 · Wider Communication toiTongaNiger–Congo · 1.3 m2 · Provincial tsnTswanaNiger–Congo · 4.5 m1 · National tsoTsongaNiger–Congo · 4 m1 · National sotSesothoNiger–Congo · 6 m1 · National nmqNambyaNiger–Congo4 · Educational ndeNorthern NdebeleNiger–Congo · 1.6 m3 · Wider Communication zibZimbabwe Sign Languageunclassified · 280,0005 · Developing bwgBarweNiger–Congo6b · Threatened

All languages spoken in Zimbabwe

Language	ISO	Family	Countries	Speakers	Vitality
engEnglish	`eng`	Indo-European	+93	1.13 bn	0 · International
xhoXhosaisiXhosa	`xho`	Niger–Congo		19.2 m	1 · National
nyaChewaChilankhulo cha Chichewa	`nya`	Niger–Congo	+1	12 m	3 · Wider Communication
snaShonaChiShona	`sna`	Niger–Congo	+1	9 m	3 · Wider Communication
afrAfrikaans	`afr`	Indo-European	+2	7.2 m	1 · National
tumTumbukaChiyowoyelo cha Chitumbuka	`tum`	Niger–Congo	+1	7 m	4 · Educational
sotSesothoseSotho	`sot`	Niger–Congo		6 m	1 · National
tsnTswanaseTswana	`tsn`	Niger–Congo	+1	4.5 m	1 · National
tsoTsonga	`tso`	Niger–Congo	+1	4 m	1 · National
ndeNorthern NdebeleSindebele	`nde`	Niger–Congo		1.6 m	3 · Wider Communication
venVendatshiVenḓa	`ven`	Niger–Congo		1.3 m	1 · National
toiTonga	`toi`	Niger–Congo		1.3 m	2 · Provincial
tscTswa	`tsc`	Niger–Congo		1.2 m	5 · Developing
lozLozi	`loz`	Niger–Congo	+2	600,000	4 · Educational
zibZimbabwe Sign Language	`zib`	—		280,000	5 · Developing
kdnKunda	`kdn`	Niger–Congo		157,000	6b · Threatened
fngFanagalo	`fng`	Niger–Congo		100,000	9 · Second language only
dovDombe	`dov`	Niger–Congo		5,430	6a · Vigorous
kckKalanga	`kck`	Niger–Congo			5 · Developing
nmqNambya	`nmq`	Niger–Congo			4 · Educational
ndcNdau	`ndc`	Niger–Congo			5 · Developing
nseNsenga	`nse`	Niger–Congo			5 · Developing
mxcManyika	`mxc`	Niger–Congo			6a · Vigorous
bwgBarwe	`bwg`	Niger–Congo			6b · Threatened

24 languages · click a column to sort · source: Wikidata