Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 bxk
Bukusu Language Lubukusu
Bukusu is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 1.4 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Bukusu is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Bukusu
About the Bukusu language
Bukusu (Lubukusu) is spoken by about 1.4 million people, which makes it the 389th most spoken language in the world — just behind Anaang (1.4 million) and ahead of Gogo (1.4 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Northern Luyia group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Bukusu spoken?
Bukusu is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Kenya (1.4 million).
Bukusu is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Bukusu is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Masaaba, Kinyarwanda, Rundi, Nande, Ganda, Kenyi and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 bxk.
Frequently asked questions about Bukusu
How many people speak Bukusu?
Where is Bukusu spoken?
What language family does Bukusu belong to?
What is Bukusu called in Bukusu?
Is Bukusu an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.