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South Africa has 11 official languages and a multilingual population fluent in at least two. IsiZulu and isiXhosa are the largest languages, while English is spoken at home by only one in 10 people – most of them not white. South Africa is a diverse nation with a rich language heritage.
The home language of most people in KwaZulu-Natal is, unsurprisingly, isiZulu. In the Eastern Cape it’s isiXhosa. Around half the people of the Western Cape and Northern Cape speak Afrikaans. In Gauteng and Mpumalanga, no single language dominates.
A third of black South Africans speak isiZulu as a first language, and 20% speak isiXhosa. Three-quarters of coloured people speak Afrikaans, and 86% of Indian South Africans speak English. Sixty percent of white people speak Afrikaans, and 30% speak English. But it’s a multilingual country.
South African English also borrows from African languages such as isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho and Setswana, and the indigenous languages of the Khoesan and Nama people. Here and there are words imported from British, Portuguese and Dutch colonies, such as India, Mozambique, Malaysia and Indonesia.
English is most common in public life, but is only spoken as a home language by 9.6% of South Africans. The other languages are Sesotho sa Leboa (spoken by 9.1% of the population), Setswana (8%), Sesotho (7.6%), Xitsonga (4.5%), siSwati (2.5%) and Tshivenda (2.4%).
Bar graph and pie chart showing South Africa’s languages, according to the 2011 census. South Africa’s 11 official languages are Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga. Sign language and other languages are included.
South Africa has nine provinces, each with its own history, landscape, population, languages, economy, cities and government. They are the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, North West and the Western Cape.
Animation: What languages are spoken in South Africa’s provinces? South Africa’s provinces and ‘homelands’ before 1996 Written and designed by Mary Alexander.
Africa from A to Z: Fast facts on the 55 states. Africa is home to 55 countries, an ancient and complex history, modern cities, some 3,000 languages and over a billion people. From Algeria to Zimbabwe, here’s a snapshot of each country on a continent you need to know more about.
South Africa has 11 official languages and a multilingual population. IsiZulu and isiXhosa are the largest languages. English is spoken at home by 10% of the population.