Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 kon · kg
Kongo Language Kikongo
Kongo is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 8.0 million people in 2 countries. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Kongo is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
About the Kongo language
Kongo (Kikongo) is spoken by about 8.0 million people. It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Benue-Congo group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Kongo spoken?
Kongo is used in 2 countries. The largest communities live in Angola (6.5 million) and DR Congo (1.7 million).
Share of the population that speaks Kongo: Angola 17% (6.5 million) and DR Congo 1.5% (1.7 million).
Kongo is not a national official language anywhere. It also has regional official status in DR Congo.
Writing system and status
Kongo is written in the Latin script.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Swahili, Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo, Lingala, Zulu and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 kg, ISO 639-3 kon.
Frequently asked questions about Kongo
How many people speak Kongo?
Where is Kongo spoken?
What language family does Kongo belong to?
What is Kongo called in Kongo?
Is Kongo 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.