ISO 639-3 · swaswa
Niger–Congo family · macrolanguage
Swahili
Kiswahili
Swahili is a macrolanguage of the Sabaki branch (Niger–Congo), spoken in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania and 9 more countries. Wikidata counts about 15.4 m speakers (2012). Wikidata describes it as “Bantu language spoken mainly in East Africa”.
At a glance
- ISO 639-3
swa- ISO 639-1
sw- Glottocode
swah1254- Family
- Niger–Congo
- Centre point
- -6.00, 33.00
- Wikipedia
- 209 language editions
—first-language speakers
—second-language speakers
13countries
2scripts
11levels in the tree
—UNESCO level
Facts
| Name | Swahili · Kiswahili |
|---|---|
| Also called | Swahili language, Swahili (macrolanguage), Kiswahili |
| All speakers | 15,437,390 (2012) |
| Written in | Latin script, Swahili Ajami |
| Official in | Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania |
| Kind | macrolanguage |
Vitality
Wikidata has no EGIDS or UNESCO rating for Swahili yet.
family tree
From Niger–Congo to Swahili
The branches above Swahili, top to bottom. Each node counts the languages of this index that belong to it.
where it is spoken
Map and countries
A distribution map from Wikimedia Commons, as linked from Wikidata; borders of language areas are approximate.
Ugandaofficial · 49 languages in the indexRwandaofficial · 4 languages in the indexKenyaofficial · 68 languages in the indexTanzaniaofficial · 117 languages in the indexDemocratic Republic of the Congo166 languages in the indexBurundi5 languages in the indexSomalia13 languages in the indexSouth Sudan63 languages in the indexMalawi14 languages in the indexMozambique39 languages in the indexComoros6 languages in the indexFrance84 languages in the indexMadagascar15 languages in the index
Also spoken in Uganda
engEnglishIndo-European · 1.13 bn0 · InternationalkinKinyarwandaNiger–Congo · 9.8 m1 · NationalrunKirundiNiger–Congo · 8.8 m1 · NationallugLugandaNiger–Congo · 5.1 m3 · Wider CommunicationcggKigaNiger–Congo · 2.4 m4 · EducationalnynRunyankoleNiger–Congo · 2.3 m4 · EducationallajLangoNilo-Saharan · 2.1 m5 · DevelopingachAcholiNilo-Saharan · 1.2 m5 · DevelopingkooKonjoNiger–Congo · 609,0005 · DevelopingbfaBariNilo-Saharan · 480,0003 · Wider Communication