Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 sna · sn
Shona Language Chishona
Shona is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 12 million people in 2 countries. It is an official language of Zimbabwe. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Shona is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
About the Shona language
Shona (Chishona) is spoken by about 12 million people, which makes it the 104th most spoken language in the world — just behind Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic (12 million) and ahead of Tunisian Arabic (12 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Central Shona group within the Benue-Congo branch.
Where is Shona spoken?
Shona is used in 2 countries. The largest communities live in Zimbabwe (14 million) and Botswana (50,430). More than half of the population speaks it in Zimbabwe — the places where travellers will hear it everywhere.
Share of the population that speaks Shona: Zimbabwe 81% (14 million) and Botswana 2% (50,430).
Shona is an official language in 1 country: Zimbabwe.
Writing system and status
Shona 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 Kalanga, Zulu, Tsonga, Xhosa, Southern Sotho, Tswana and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 sn, ISO 639-3 sna.
Frequently asked questions about Shona
How many people speak Shona?
Where is Shona spoken?
In which countries is Shona an official language?
What language family does Shona belong to?
What is Shona called in Shona?
Is Shona 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.