List of languages ​​in Namibia

This is a list of the languages ​​used in Namibia . The official language in Namibia is in Chapter 1, Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of Namibia English .

A number of languages ​​enjoy legal protection as so-called national languages, namely Afrikaans , German , Khoekhoegowab , OshiKwanyama , Oshindonga , Otjiherero , RuKwangali , SeTswana and Silozi . The national languages ​​concern the right to use another language as the language of instruction in private schools and, with permission, in state schools. In addition, national languages may be used in the administration, legislature and judiciary in the regions of Namibia . The prerequisite is that the language in the respective region is used “by a significant proportion of the population” (Constitution, Article 3, Paragraphs 2 and 3). There are also other minority languages. The demarcation between independent languages ​​and dialects is not uniformly regulated, nor is the precise designation of the languages.

List and information on speakers

Language group	Languages)	ISO code	Native speaker (in Namibia)	Households with main language	Native speaking distribution (2011)	status
Niger-Congo languages ( Bantu languages )
Oshivambo	OshiKwanyama ( incl.OshiMbalanhu )	kua (lnb)	~ 1,035,373 (49%)	227,103 (48.9%)		National language
	OshiNdonga (including OshiKwambi )	ndo (kwm)				National language
OtjiHerero	OtjiHerero (including OtjiHimba )	here (dhm)	~ 150,000-200,000	40,000 (8.6%)		National language
SiLozi	SiLozi (including CiSubiya ChiFwe ShiYeyi ChiTotela )	loz (sbs) (fwe) (yey)	> 100,000	22,484 (4.8%)		National language
SeTswana	SeTswana	tsn	~ 12,000	1,328 (0.3%)		National language
RuKavango	RuKwangali	bnt	180,000	39,566 (8.5%)		National language
Indo-European languages
Afrikaans	Afrikaans	afr	~ 219,753 (10.4%)	48,238 (10.4%)		National language
German	German	eng	~ 19,500 (0.9%)	4,359 (0.9%)		National language
English	English	closely	~ 71,842 (3.4%)	15,912 (3.4%)		Official language
Khoisan speeches
Khoekhoegowab	Khoekhoegowab (incl. Nama Damara Haiǁom Topnaar )	(naq) (dam) (hgm) (top)	~ 238,769 (11.3%)	52,450 (11.3%)		Nama and Damara: national language
San languages	ǃKung (including Juǀ'hoan ǃ'O-ǃKhung ǃXung , ǂKx'auǁein Ju-ǂHõã )	vaj (ktz) (knw)		3,745 (0.8%)
	Kxoe
	Naro	nhr
	ǃXóõ	nmn

Minor languages ​​and dialects

• Vasekela (60,000 native speakers; not only in Namibia)
• Kuhane (26,000)
• Diriku (10,600)
• Nyemba (10,000)
• Chokwe (5,600)
• Zemba (4,000)
• Umbundu (3,000)
• Khwe (2,960) - Endangered language according to UNESCO
• Luchazi (1000)
• Mashi (200)
• Kgalagadi (100)
• Nkhumbi (100)
• Xiri (100)
• Fanagalo
• Luyana

annotation

1. ↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

See also

• List of place names in different languages ​​of Namibia
• Namlish

Web links

• Namibia Population and Housing Census 2001, Central Bureau of Statistics, Namibia, 2001
• Biodiversity Namibian Languages (English)
• Overview of the languages ​​in Namibia, ethnologue.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Namibian Constitution. (PDF) Republic of Namibia, October 13, 2014, accessed April 29, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Census gives snapshot of Namibia's population. The Namibian, March 28, 2013 ( memento of April 13, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on March 29, 2013
3. ↑ Namibia 2011 Population and Housing Census Main Report. (PDF, 20 MB) Namibia Statistics Agency, 2011, p. 68 , archived from the original on October 16, 2013 ; accessed on April 29, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Khwe. UNESCO Atlas of the World Languages ​​in Danger. Retrieved October 13, 2015