Swahili

About Swahili

Swahili, Kiswahili in the language itself, is an official language of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda and a working language of the African Union. About 15 million people speak it as a first language, mostly along the East African coast, and tens of millions more use it as a second language to talk across the region.

Swahili is written in the Latin alphabet almost exactly as it is spoken. Vowels sound as in Spanish, and stress falls on the second to last syllable, as in habari (news). Jambo is the hello visitors learn, but people more often greet each other with Habari? (what news?) or Mambo? among friends. Respect for elders matters: a younger person greets an older one with Shikamoo, and the answer is Marahaba.

FamilyNiger-Congo, Bantu
Speakersabout 15 million as a first language (2012)
Official inKenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda
ScriptLatin alphabet
Codessw (ISO 639-1), swa (ISO 639-3)

Speaker number: Ethnologue (2012), via Wikidata. Retrieved 26 September 2026.

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