World Language Map

Languages spoken in Cameroon

306 living languages are mapped in Cameroon. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is French (68% of the population). They belong to 6 language families, the largest being Atlantic-Congo (235 languages).

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The filter only changes what is drawn. Tap the map to list every language at a spot, whichever family is shown. You can also pick any family from its own page.

Key

Language families (largest ten)

  • Atlantic-Congo
  • Austronesian
  • Sino-Tibetan
  • Indo-European
  • Afro-Asiatic
  • Nuclear Trans New Guinea
  • Otomanguean
  • Austroasiatic
  • Tai-Kadai
  • Pama-Nyungan

Everything else

  • All other families Smaller families, isolates and unclassified languages.
  • Point A language with no area map. The dot sits at its Glottolog position, in its family colour.

How to read the map. Each colour is a language family: a group of languages that share a common ancestor. The ten largest families have their own colour and every other family is grey. Areas are see-through, so where two languages share a place the colours mix. Tap anywhere to list every language whose area covers that spot. Areas are generalisations drawn from published atlases, many of them decades old, and cities are multilingual, so an area never says that everyone there speaks the language. A dot marks a language that has no area map. The family name is always given in words, because colour alone is hard to tell apart for some people.

Languages of Cameroon at a glance

  • 306living languages
  • 6language families
  • 31 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 24with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Cameroon. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

The 40 most widely spoken languages in Cameroon

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

LanguageFamilyShare of populationEstimated speakersStatus
FrenchIndo-European68%21,056,948Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European38%11,767,118Not endangered
Bulu (Cameroon)Atlantic-Congo4.6%1,424,441Not endangered
EwondoAtlantic-Congo3.1%959,949Not endangered
YembaAtlantic-Congo1.6%495,458Not endangered
Ghomálá'Atlantic-Congo1.4%433,525Not endangered
NgiemboonAtlantic-Congo1.4%433,525Not endangered
Kom (Cameroon)Atlantic-Congo1.3%402,559Not endangered
BamunAtlantic-Congo1.2%371,593Not endangered
Basa (Cameroon)Atlantic-Congo1.2%371,593Not endangered
MedumbaAtlantic-Congo1.1%340,627Not endangered
MundangAtlantic-Congo1%309,661Not endangered
MafaAfro-Asiatic0.7%229,149Not endangered
BafutAtlantic-Congo0.6%176,507Not endangered
AkooseAtlantic-Congo0.5%167,217Not endangered
KakoAtlantic-Congo0.5%167,217Not endangered
DualaAtlantic-Congo0.5%148,637Not endangered
Meta'Atlantic-Congo0.5%145,541Not endangered
Standard ArabicAfro-Asiatic0.4%120,768Not endangered
NgombaAtlantic-Congo0.3%105,285Not endangered
BafiaAtlantic-Congo0.3%99,092Not endangered
KenyangAtlantic-Congo0.3%77,415Not endangered
AghemAtlantic-Congo0.1%43,353Not endangered
HausaAfro-Asiatic0.1%43,353Not endangered
AbonAtlantic-CongoThreatened
Adamawa FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AfadeAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
AjumbuAtlantic-CongoShifting
AkumAtlantic-CongoShifting
AmbeleAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AtongAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AwingAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BaazemAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BabaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BabankiAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BafanjiAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Bafaw-BalongAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Baka (Cameroon)Atlantic-CongoThreatened
BakakaAtlantic-CongoThreatened
BakokoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered

Read more: where is French spoken?

Language families in Cameroon

All 306 languages in Cameroon, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Cameroon comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Cameroon

How many languages are spoken in Cameroon?

306 living languages are mapped in Cameroon, from 6 families. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Cameroon?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, French is spoken by 68% of the population, about 21,056,948 people, followed by English (38%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Cameroon?

Atlantic-Congo (235 languages), Afro-Asiatic (65 languages), Indo-European (3 languages), Saharan (1 language) and Maban (1 language), and 1 more.

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