Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 is a multilingual country. A number of Bantu languages

Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...

 are indigenous to Mozambique. Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

, inherited from the colonial period, is the official language, and Mozambique is a full member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Ethnologue lists 43 languages spoken in the country.

Accordinag to INE - Mozambique's National Institute for Statistics - Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in Mozambique: 39.6% of the national population and 72.4% of people living in urban areas are fluent in the language. Other widely spoken languages include Swahili

Swahili language

Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...

, Makhuwa, Sena

Sena language

The Sena language is spoken in the four provinces of central Mozambique : Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica.There were an estimated 900,000 native Sena speakers in Mozambique in 1997, with at least 1.5 million including those who speak it as second language.Sena is spoken in several dialects, of...

, Ndau

Ndau language

Ndau is one of the Shona dialects. It is spoken by people from the region of Chipinge...

, and Shangaan (Tsonga)

Tsonga language

The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo languages...

. Other indigenous languages of Mozambique include Lomwe

Lomwe language

Lomwe is a mixed language spoken in southeastern Malawi.-Background:The Mozambique Lomwe are one of the four largest ethnic groups living in Malawi and have history of migration to the Mozambique–Malawi border zone. Many Lomwe moved into Malawi, where they mixed with the Nyanja, in the 1930s due to...

, Makonde

Makonde language

Makonde is the language spoken by the Makonde, an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Makonde is a central Bantu language closely related to Yao...

, Chopi

Chopi language

Chopi, also spelled Copi, Tschopi, and Txopi, is a Bantu language spoken along the southern coast of Mozambique....

, Chuwabu, Ronga

Ronga

Ronga is a South-Eastern Bantu language in the Tswa–Ronga family spoken just South of Maputo in Mozambique. It extends a little into South Africa...

, Kimwani

Kimwani

The Mwani language, or Kimwani , is spoken on the coast of the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, including the Quirimbas Islands. Although it shares high lexical similarity with Swahili, it is not intelligible with it. It is spoken by around 120,000 people...

, Zulu

Zulu language

Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...

, and Tswa

Tswa

Tswa, or XiTswa is a South-Eastern Bantu language in Southern Mozambique. Its closest relatives are Ronga and Tsonga, the three forming the Tswa–Ronga family of languages....

.

Small communities of Arabs, Chinese

Overseas Chinese

Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....

, and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

ns speak their own languages (Indians from Portuguese India

Portuguese India

The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...

 speak any of the Portuguese Creole

Portuguese Creole

Portuguese creoles are creole languages which have been significantly influenced by Portuguese.- Origins :Portuguese overseas exploration in the 15th and 16th century's led to the establishment of a Portuguese Empire with trading posts, forts and colonies in the Americas, Asia and Africa...

s of their origin) aside from Portuguese as their second language. Most educated Mozambicans speak English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, which is used in schools and business as second or third language.

Multilingualism

Most Mozambicans speak more than one language. About 40% of all people speak Portuguese — 33.5%, mostly Bantus, as a second language and 6.5%, including pure-blooded Portuguese and mestiços, speak it as their first language.

Influence among languages

Many indigenous languages of Mozambique have loan words of Portuguese origin.

Largest language groups

Mozambique largest language groups (1998)

Language	Number of speakers (L1)	Percentage of population
Emakhuwa	4,007,010	24.8
Cisena Sena language The Sena language is spoken in the four provinces of central Mozambique : Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica.There were an estimated 900,000 native Sena speakers in Mozambique in 1997, with at least 1.5 million including those who speak it as second language.Sena is spoken in several dialects, of...	1,807,319	11.2
Xichangana Tsonga language The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo languages...	1,799,614	11.2
Elomwe Lomwe language Lomwe is a mixed language spoken in southeastern Malawi.-Background:The Mozambique Lomwe are one of the four largest ethnic groups living in Malawi and have history of migration to the Mozambique–Malawi border zone. Many Lomwe moved into Malawi, where they mixed with the Nyanja, in the 1930s due to...	1,269,527	7.9
Cishona Shona language Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...	1,070,471	6.6
Xitswa	763,029	4.7
Xironga	626,174	3.9
Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095... (Mozambican Mozambican Portuguese Mozambican Portuguese refers to the varieties of Portuguese spoken in Mozambique. It is the official language and, according to the most recent census, is spoken by approximately 40% of the population, mostly as a lingua franca, with only 6.5% speaking it natively... )	489,915	3
Cinyungwe Nyungwe language Nyungwe is a Bantu language of Mozambique. It is used as a trade language....	446,567	2.8
Cicopi Chopi language Chopi, also spelled Copi, Tschopi, and Txopi, is a Bantu language spoken along the southern coast of Mozambique....	406,521	2.5
Ciyao	374,426	2.3
Shimakonde Makonde language Makonde is the language spoken by the Makonde, an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Makonde is a central Bantu language closely related to Yao...	371,111	2.3
Ekoti Ekoti language The Koti language, or Ekoti , is a Bantu language spoken in Mozambique by about 64,200 people, the Koti people . Koti is spoken on Koti Island and is also the major language of Angoche, the capital of the district with the same name in the province of Nampula.In terms of genetic classification,...	102,393	0.6
Kimwani Kimwani The Mwani language, or Kimwani , is spoken on the coast of the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, including the Quirimbas Islands. Although it shares high lexical similarity with Swahili, it is not intelligible with it. It is spoken by around 120,000 people...	29,980	0.2
Swahili Swahili language Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...	21,070	0.1
Swazi Swati language The Swazi or Swati language is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and South Africa by the Swazi people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 3 million. The language is taught in Swaziland and some South African schools in Mpumalanga and KaNgwane areas...	7,742	0.05
Zulu Zulu language Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...	3,529	0.02
Total	16,135,403	100

External links

• Ethnologue Listing of Mozambican Languages
• Línguas de Moçambique - A Portuguese-language collection of publications in Mozambican languages. (A Google Translate Gadget is available)
• Tindzimi ta Mozambique (Language and Language Policy in Mozambique)
• PanAfrican L10n page on Mozambique