Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 kng
Koongo Language
Koongo is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 5.0 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Koongo is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Koongo
Language family
- Atlantic-Congo
- Volta-Congo
- Benue-Congo
- Bantoid
- Southern Bantoid
- Narrow Bantu
- Central-Western Bantu
- West-Coastal Bantu
- Nzadic
- Lweric
- Dingic
- Loange-Atlantic
- KLC Extended
- Kikongo Language Cluster
- Nuclear KLC
- Kikongoic
- Kambakunyic Kikongo
- Kilaadic Kikongo
- Central-Southern Kikongo
- Southeastern Kikongo
- Southern Kikongo
- Koongo-Kituba
- Koongo
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Koongo language
Koongo is spoken by about 5.0 million people, which makes it the 187th most spoken language in the world — just behind Ghanaian Pidgin English (5.0 million) and ahead of Mewari (5.0 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Koongo-Kituba group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Koongo spoken?
Koongo is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in DR Congo (5.0 million).
Koongo is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Koongo 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 Kituba (Democratic Republic of Congo), Lingala, Luba-Lulua, Umbundu, Kimbundu, Bangala and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 kng.
Frequently asked questions about Koongo
How many people speak Koongo?
Where is Koongo spoken?
What language family does Koongo belong to?
Is Koongo 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.