Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 swa · sw
Swahili Language Kiswahili
Swahili is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 171 million people in 9 countries. It is an official language of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It is written in the Latin and Perso-Arabic scripts.
Where Swahili is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Swahili
About the Swahili language
Swahili (Kiswahili) is spoken by about 171 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 Swahili spoken?
Swahili is used in 9 countries. The largest communities live in Tanzania (61 million), DR Congo (58 million), Kenya (38 million), Uganda (37 million) and Somalia (260,346). More than half of the population speaks it in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and DR Congo — the places where travellers will hear it everywhere.
Share of the population that speaks Swahili: Tanzania 90% (61 million), DR Congo 50% (58 million), Kenya 66% (38 million), Uganda 75% (37 million), Somalia 2% (260,346) and Mozambique <0.1% (9,338).
Swahili is an official language in 3 countries: Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It also has regional official status in DR Congo.
Writing system and status
Swahili is written in the Latin and Perso-Arabic scripts.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo, Lingala, Zulu, Chichewa and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 sw, ISO 639-3 swa.
Frequently asked questions about Swahili
How many people speak Swahili?
Where is Swahili spoken?
In which countries is Swahili an official language?
What language family does Swahili belong to?
What is Swahili called in Swahili?
Is Swahili 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.