World Language Map

Languages spoken in Chad

136 living languages are mapped in Chad. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Standard Arabic (17% of the population). They belong to 9 language families, the largest being Afro-Asiatic (59 languages). 2 are language isolates, with no known relatives.

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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 Chad at a glance

  • 136living languages
  • 9language families
  • 19.1 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 2with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Chad. 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 Chad

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
Standard ArabicAfro-Asiatic17%3,245,912Not endangered
FrenchIndo-European13%2,482,168Not endangered
Adamawa FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AmdangFuranShifting
AssangoriTamaicThreatened
BagirmiCentral SudanicNot endangered
Bagirmi FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BarainAfro-AsiaticShifting
BeriaSaharanNot endangered
BesmeAtlantic-CongoShifting
BidiyoAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
BirgitAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
BolgoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Bon GulaAtlantic-CongoShifting
BoorAfro-AsiaticMoribund
BuaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BudumaAfro-AsiaticThreatened
Central KanuriSaharanNot endangered
Central-Eastern Niger FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Chadian ArabicAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
DagbaCentral SudanicNot endangered
DangaleatAfro-AsiaticThreatened
Dar Daju DajuDajuicNot endangered
Dar Sila DajuDajuicShifting
DayAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
DazagaSaharanNot endangered
Dissa-Canton MufaCentral SudanicThreatened
FaniaAtlantic-CongoShifting
FurFuranNot endangered
GabriAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
GadangAfro-AsiaticShifting
GidarAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
GizeyAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
GorCentral SudanicNot endangered
GoundoAtlantic-CongoNearly extinct
Gula (Chad)Central SudanicNot endangered
Gula IroAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GulayCentral SudanicNot endangered
HamAfro-AsiaticShifting
HausaAfro-AsiaticNot endangered

Read more: where is Standard Arabic spoken?

Language families in Chad

All 136 languages in Chad, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Chad 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 Chad

How many languages are spoken in Chad?

136 living languages are mapped in Chad, from 9 families, plus 2 language isolates. 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 Chad?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Standard Arabic is spoken by 17% of the population, about 3,245,912 people, followed by French (13%). 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 Chad?

Afro-Asiatic (59 languages), Atlantic-Congo (27 languages), Central Sudanic (24 languages), Maban (9 languages) and Saharan (6 languages), and 4 more.

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