Languages of Nigeria

Languages of Nigeria
A map of languages in Nigeria and neighbouring countries
OfficialEnglish
NationalHausa, Igbo, Yoruba
RegionalEfik-Ibibio, Isoko, Edo, Tiv, Fulani, Idoma, Ijaw, Kamwe, Kanuri, Ukwuani, Urhobo, Nupe, Gbagyi
VernacularNigerian Pidgin
ForeignArabic, French
Signed
Keyboard layout

There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria.[1][2][3] The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English,[4][5] which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by over 60 million people.[5][6]

The major native languages, in terms of population, are Hausa (over 80 million when including second-language, or L2, speakers), Yoruba (over 54 million, including L2 speakers), Igbo (over 42 million, including L2 speakers), Efik-Ibibio cluster (over 15 million), Fulfulde (13 million), Kanuri (5 million), Tiv (5 million), Nupe (3 million) and approximately 2 to 3 million each of Karai-Karai Kupa, Kakanda, Edo, Igala, Idoma and Izon.[7] Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of much of Africa as a whole, and the country contains languages from the three major African language families: Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger–Congo. Nigeria also has several as-yet unclassified languages, such as Centúúm, which may represent a relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.[8]

  1. ^ "Language data for Nigeria". Translators without Borders. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  2. ^ "Nigeria". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  3. ^ Blench, Roger (2014). An Atlas Of Nigerian Languages. Oxford: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
  4. ^ "Language data for Nigeria". Translators without Borders. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  5. ^ a b "Nigeria: languages by number of speakers 2021". Statista. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  6. ^ "Africa: Nigeria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  7. ^ "Nigeria". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  8. ^ Adeleke, Dr Wale. "Languages of Nigeria - Regions". NaijaSky. Retrieved 2020-05-27.

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search