Fang language

Fang
Pangwe
Faŋ, Paŋwe
Native to	Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and São Tomé and Príncipe
Ethnicity	Fang
Native speakers	1 million (2006–2013)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Benue–Congo Bantoid Southern Bantoid Bantu (Zone A) Beti Fang
Dialects	Southwest Fang Ntoumou-Fang Okak-Fang Mekê-Fang Mvaïe-Fang Atsi-Fang Nzaman-Fang Mveni-Fang
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Equatorial Guinea  Gabon
Language codes
ISO 639-2	fan
ISO 639-3	fan
Glottolog	fang1246
Guthrie code	A.75,751[2]

Fang /ˈfɒŋ/ is a Central African language spoken by around 1 million people, most of them in Equatorial Guinea, and northern Gabon, where it is the dominant Bantu language; Fang is also spoken in southern Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and small fractions of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon.

Under President Macías Nguema, Fang was the official language of Equatorial Guinea, although in 1982, the Third Constitution once again replaced it with Spanish. Since then, each version of the Constitution has recognized Fang and other languages indigenous to the country as integral to the national culture, despite these languages not having official status.

There are many different variants of Fang in northern Gabon and southern Cameroon. Maho (2009) lists Southwest Fang as a distinct language. The other dialects are Ntoumou, Okak, Mekê, Atsi (Batsi), Nzaman (Zaman), Mveni, and Mvaïe.