Languages of the Central African Republic

The official languages of the Central African Republic are French and Sangho. In total there are about 72 languages in the country.[1]

Languages of the Central African Republic
OfficialFrench (Standard), Sango
SignedAmerican Sign Language (Francophone African Sign Language)
Other minority language(s)Around 70 other languages
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Signs in French in Bangui

In the CAR, French is the language of writing and formal situations. In 2018 it was estimated that 28.36% of the population could speak French.[2]

Sangho has about 350,000 native speakers. It has become the lingua franca of the country. It became a national language in 1963 and an official language (alongside French) in 1991. It is estimated that 92% of the CAR's population is able to speak Sangho. The language has become the mother tongue of almost all children in Bangui.[3]

Nearly all of the native languages of the CAR belong to the Ubangian languages. There are a few Bantu languages in the extreme south, along the border with Congo-Brazzaville, and several Bongo–Bagirmi languages in the north, near the border with Chad. In addition, there is a Maban language, Runga.

Education for the deaf in CAR uses American Sign Language, introduced by the deaf American missionary Andrew Foster.

See also

References
  1. "Central African Republic – Country". Ethnologue.
  2. Beck, Baptiste; Marcoux, Richard; Richard, Laurent; Wolff, Alexandre (2018). Estimation des populations francophones dans le monde en 2018: Sources et démarches méthodologiques [Estimation of French-speaking populations in the world in 2018: Methodological sources and approaches] (PDF) (Report). Note de recherche de l'ODSEF (in French). Québec: Observatoire démographique et statistique de l'espace francophone, Université Laval. p. 45. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  3. "Central African Republic – Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
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