Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 kin · rw
Kinyarwanda Language Ikinyarwanda
Kinyarwanda is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 12 million people in 3 countries. It is an official language of Rwanda. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Kinyarwanda is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Kinyarwanda
About the Kinyarwanda language
Kinyarwanda (Ikinyarwanda) is spoken by about 12 million people, which makes it the 102nd most spoken language in the world — just behind Swedish (12 million) and ahead of Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic (12 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the West Highlands Kivu group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Kinyarwanda spoken?
Kinyarwanda is used in 3 countries. The largest communities live in Rwanda (10 million), Uganda (1.0 million) and DR Congo (438,531). More than half of the population speaks it in Rwanda — the places where travellers will hear it everywhere.
Share of the population that speaks Kinyarwanda: Rwanda 77% (10 million), Uganda 2.1% (1.0 million) and DR Congo 0.4% (438,531).
Kinyarwanda is an official language in 1 country: Rwanda.
Writing system and status
Kinyarwanda 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 Rundi, Nande, Ganda, Kenyi, Nyankole, Gusii and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 rw, ISO 639-3 kin.
Frequently asked questions about Kinyarwanda
How many people speak Kinyarwanda?
Where is Kinyarwanda spoken?
In which countries is Kinyarwanda an official language?
What language family does Kinyarwanda belong to?
What is Kinyarwanda called in Kinyarwanda?
Is Kinyarwanda 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.