Languages of Angola

[vijayjohn]

While the sole official language of Angola is Portuguese, which is spoken by most of the population, most of the languages spoken in Angola are Bantu languages. Some of these languages, namely Kimbundu, Umbundu, Lingala, Chokwe, and Kongo, are recognized as national languages. Out of these, only Kimbundu and Umbundu are exclusively spoken in Angola, with the other three also being spoken at least in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Lingala and Kongo are also spoken in the Republic of Congo, and Chokwe is also spoken in Zambia. In the far south and southeast, a Khoe language called Khwe and the !Kung language varieties Maligo, !O!Kung, and Ekoka !Kung are spoken.

The other Bantu languages of Angola include the remaining Kimbundu languages, the remaining Chokwe-Luchazi languages, Songo, Holu (also spoken in the DRC), Ndombe, Mashi, Mbukushu (a language with click consonants also spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia), Kwangali (also spoken in Namibia), Gciriku (also spoken in Namibia and Botswana), the closely related Yaka and Mbangala languages (Yaka also being spoken in the DRC), the also closely related Lunda and Ruund languages (both also spoken in the DRC), and the Southwest Bantu languages.