There are many languages spoken in Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, but no one language is spoken natively by a majority or a large plurality of the population. Government policies encourage the use of 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...

 as the main common lingua franca

Lingua franca

A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...

, while 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...

 is the most important foreign language.

Other languages:

• Bemba
  Bemba language
  The Bemba language, ChiBemba , is a major Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups, including the Bisa people of Mpika and Lake Bangweulu, and to a lesser extent in Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the...
  
  
• Bena
  Bena language
  Bena is a Bantu language spoken by the Bena people of the Iringa region of Tanzania....
  
  
• Gogo
  Gogo language
  Gogo is a Bantu language spoken by the Gogo people of Dodoma Region in Tanzania. The language is spoken throughout Dodoma Region and into the neighbouring district of Manyoni...
  
  
• Haya
  Haya language
  Haya is a Niger–Congo language spoken by the Haya people of Tanzania, in the south and southwest coast of Lake Victoria. In 1991, the population of Haya speakers was estimated at 1,200,000 people .-References:...
  
  
• Hehe
  Hehe language
  Hehe is a Bantu language spoken by the Hehe people of the Iringa region of Tanzania. It was reported to have "Ngoni" features, that is, words of a Zulu-like language introduced when conquered by a Nguni or Zulu-like people in the early 19th century...
  
  
• Iramba
• Iraqw
  Iraqw language
  Not to be confused with Iroquois language.Iraqw is a Cushitic language spoken in Tanzania in the Arusha and Manyara Regions. It is expanding in numbers, as the Iraqw people absorb neighboring ethnic groups. The language has a large number of Datooga loanwords, especially in poetic language...
  
  
• Luguru
  Luguru language
  Luguru is a Bantu language spoken by the Luguru people of the Morogoro region of Tanzania. The name is also spelled Lughuru, Lugulu, Ruguru. It is closely related to Gogo and Zaramo, but is not intelligible with other languages....
  
  
• Nyakyusa
  Nyakyusa language
  Nyakyusa, or Nyakyusa–Ngonde, is a Bantu language of Tanzania and Malawi spoken by the Nyakyusa people around the northern end of Lake Malawi. There is no single name for the language as a whole; dialects are Nyakyusa, Ngonde, and Sukwa of Tanzania and Malawi, plus Kukwe, Mwamba , and Selya of...
  
  
• Nyamwezi
  Nyamwezi language
  Nyamwezi is a major Bantu language of central Tanzania. It forms a dialect continuum with Sukuma, but is more distinct from other neighboring languages....
  
  
• Sukuma
  Sukuma language
  Sukuma is a Bantu language spoken by over five million people in central Tanzania. It forms a dialect continuum with Nyamwezi, but is more distinct from other neighboring languages....
  
  
• Turu
• Yao

etc.

See :Category:Languages of Tanzania.

External links

• Languages of Tanzania at Ethnologue
  Ethnologue
  Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
  
  site.
• Map of languages of Tanzania at Ethnologue