Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 ksb
Shambala Language kisambaa
Shambala is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 1.0 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Shambala is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Shambala
Language family
- Atlantic-Congo
- Volta-Congo
- Benue-Congo
- Bantoid
- Southern Bantoid
- Narrow Bantu
- East Bantu
- Northeast Savanna Bantu
- Northeast Coastal Bantu
- Ruvu
- West Ruvu
- Seuta
- Bondei-Shambala
- Shambala
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Shambala language
Shambala (kisambaa) is spoken by about 1.0 million people, which makes it the 472nd most spoken language in the world — just behind Pwo Eastern Karen (1.0 million) and ahead of Lozi (1.0 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Bondei-Shambala group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Shambala spoken?
Shambala is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Tanzania (1.1 million).
Shambala is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Shambala 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 Gogo, Swahili, Congo Swahili, Segeju, Giryama, Ngazidja Comorian and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 ksb.
Frequently asked questions about Shambala
How many people speak Shambala?
Where is Shambala spoken?
What language family does Shambala belong to?
What is Shambala called in Shambala?
Is Shambala 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.