Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 lua
Luba-Lulua Language Ciluba
Luba-Lulua is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 9.8 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Luba-Lulua is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Luba-Lulua
Language family
- Atlantic-Congo
- Volta-Congo
- Benue-Congo
- Bantoid
- Southern Bantoid
- Narrow Bantu
- Central-Western Bantu
- Luban
- Luba-Kaonde
- Lubaic
- Bangubangu-Kasai
- Luba-Lulua
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Luba-Lulua language
Luba-Lulua (Ciluba) is spoken by about 9.8 million people, which makes it the 124th most spoken language in the world — just behind Xhosa (10 million) and ahead of Dhundari (9.6 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Bangubangu-Kasai group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Luba-Lulua spoken?
Luba-Lulua is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in DR Congo (11 million).
Luba-Lulua is not a national official language anywhere. It also has regional official status in DR Congo.
Writing system and status
Luba-Lulua 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 Luba-Katanga, Songe, Lingala, Umbundu, Kimbundu, Kituba (Democratic Republic of Congo) and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 lua.
Frequently asked questions about Luba-Lulua
How many people speak Luba-Lulua?
Where is Luba-Lulua spoken?
What language family does Luba-Lulua belong to?
What is Luba-Lulua called in Luba-Lulua?
Is Luba-Lulua 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.