Zande language

Zande
Zande
Pazande
Native to	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan
Ethnicity	Zande
Speakers	(L1: 1.8 million cited 1996–2017); L2: 100,000 (2013)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic-Congo Volta-Congo Savannas? Ubangian Zande languages Zande–Nzakara Zande; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Dio; Makaraka;
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zne
Glottolog	zand1248

Zande is the largest of the Zande languages. It is spoken by the Azande, primarily in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and western South Sudan, but also in the eastern part of the Central African Republic. It is called Pazande in the Zande language and Kizande in Lingala.

Estimates about the number of speakers vary; in 2001 Koen Impens cited studies that put the number between 700,000 and one million.^[3]

^ Zande at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ zande at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ Impens, Koen (2001). "Essai de bibliographie des Azande". Annales Aequatoria. 22: 449–514.

Zande
Pazande
Native to	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan
Ethnicity	Zande
Speakers	(L1: 1.8 million cited 1996–2017)^[1] L2: 100,000 (2013)^[2]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic-Congo Volta-Congo Savannas? Ubangian Zande languages Zande–Nzakara Zande
Dialects	Dio Makaraka
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`zne`
Glottolog	`zand1248`