Swahili language

Swahili
Kiswahili
Native to	Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Mayotte (mostly Comorian), Mozambique (mostly Mwani), Oman, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda[1]
Native speakers	26 million (2007)[2] 120 million L2 speakers[3]
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Bantu Northeast Coast Bantu Sabaki Swahili
Writing system	Latin, Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Tanzania  Rwanda  Kenya  Uganda
Regulated by	Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa (Tanzania)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	sw
ISO 639-2	swa
ISO 639-3	swa – inclusive code Individual codes: swc – Congo Swahili swh – Coastal Swahili
Guthrie code	G.42–43; G.40.A–H (pidgins & creoles)[4]
Linguasphere	99-AUS-m
Areas where Swahili is spoken

The Swahili language is a language widely spoken in East Africa. In the language, its name is Kiswahili. It is a Bantu language.

Swahili is spoken in a wide area from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique and in all of Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi. Congo has five million first-language speakers and fifty million second-language speakers. Swahili has become a language with which people communicate within East Africa and the surrounding areas.

Swahili was first spoken by the Swahili people, who live on the coast of East Africa and on the islands near the coast, including Zanzibar, which is now a part of Tanzania.

Swahili is an official language in Tanzania and Kenya. It has been influenced by many other languages like Arabic.

1. ↑ Ethnologue list of countries where Swahili is spoken
   Thomas J. Hinnebusch, 1992, "Swahili", International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford, pp. 99–106
   David Dalby, 1999/2000, The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities, Linguasphere Press, Volume Two, pg. 733–735
   Benji Wald, 1994, "Sub-Saharan Africa", Atlas of the World's Languages, Routledge, pp. 289–346, maps 80, 81, 85
2. ↑ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007
3. ↑ Swahili language at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
4. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online