Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 kmb
Kimbundu Language
Kimbundu is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 8.1 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Kimbundu is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Kimbundu
Language family
- Atlantic-Congo
- Volta-Congo
- Benue-Congo
- Bantoid
- Southern Bantoid
- Narrow Bantu
- Central-Western Bantu
- Njila
- Northern Njila
- Mbundu (H.20)
- Kimbundu
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Kimbundu language
Kimbundu is spoken by about 8.1 million people, which makes it the 142nd most spoken language in the world — just behind Mossi (8.3 million) and ahead of Bagheli (8.0 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Mbundu (H.20) group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Kimbundu spoken?
Kimbundu is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Angola (9.3 million).
Kimbundu is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Kimbundu 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 Umbundu, Mbalanhu, Ngandyera, Lingala, Luba-Lulua, Kituba (Democratic Republic of Congo) and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 kmb.
Frequently asked questions about Kimbundu
How many people speak Kimbundu?
Where is Kimbundu spoken?
What language family does Kimbundu belong to?
Is Kimbundu 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.