World Language Map

Languages spoken in Ethiopia

100 living languages are mapped in Ethiopia. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is English (43% of the population). They belong to 11 language families, the largest being Afro-Asiatic (40 languages). 4 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 Ethiopia at a glance

  • 100living languages
  • 11language families
  • 118.6 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 8with a CLDR share

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

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
EnglishIndo-European43%50,976,500Not endangered
AmharicAfro-Asiatic33%39,121,500Not endangered
West Central OromoAfro-Asiatic32%37,936,000Not endangered
SomaliAfro-Asiatic6%7,113,000Not endangered
TigrinyaAfro-Asiatic6%7,113,000Not endangered
SidamoAfro-Asiatic3.5%4,149,250Not endangered
WolayttaTa-Ne-Omotic1.8%2,133,900Not endangered
AfarAfro-Asiatic1.4%1,659,700Not endangered
AariSouth OmoticNot endangered
Adamawa FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Alaba-K'abeenaAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
Ale-GawwadaAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
AnfilloTa-Ne-OmoticShifting
AnuakNiloticNot endangered
ArboreAfro-AsiaticShifting
ArgobbaAfro-AsiaticThreatened
AwngiAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
BaisoAfro-AsiaticShifting
BambassiBlue Nile MaoShifting
BasketoTa-Ne-OmoticThreatened
BenchTa-Ne-OmoticThreatened
BertaIsolateShifting
Borana-Arsi-Guji OromoAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
Boro (Ethiopia)Ta-Ne-OmoticShifting
BurjiAfro-AsiaticThreatened
BussaAfro-AsiaticShifting
CharaTa-Ne-OmoticShifting
Chinese-Ethiopian Road Site Pidginunclassified
DaasanachAfro-AsiaticThreatened
Daats'iinGumuzNot endangered
DawroTa-Ne-OmoticNot endangered
DimeSouth OmoticShifting
DirashaAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
DizinDizoidNot endangered
DorzeTa-Ne-OmoticThreatened
Eastern OromoAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
GamoTa-Ne-OmoticNot endangered
GanzaBlue Nile MaoShifting
GarreAfro-AsiaticThreatened
GayilSouth OmoticNot endangered

Read more: where is English spoken?

Language families in Ethiopia

All 100 languages in Ethiopia, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Ethiopia 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 Ethiopia

How many languages are spoken in Ethiopia?

100 living languages are mapped in Ethiopia, from 11 families, plus 4 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 Ethiopia?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, English is spoken by 43% of the population, about 50,976,500 people, followed by Amharic (33%). 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 Ethiopia?

Afro-Asiatic (40 languages), Ta-Ne-Omotic (19 languages), Surmic (8 languages), Nilotic (6 languages) and South Omotic (5 languages), and 6 more.

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