World Language Map

Languages spoken in Kenya

83 living languages are mapped in Kenya. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Swahili (66% of the population). They belong to 6 language families, the largest being Atlantic-Congo (45 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 Kenya at a glance

  • 83living languages
  • 6language families
  • 58.2 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 15with a CLDR share

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

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
SwahiliAtlantic-Congo66%38,442,624Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European19%11,066,816Not endangered
KikuyuAtlantic-Congo17%9,901,888Not endangered
Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)Nilotic9.8%5,708,147Not endangered
Kamba (Kenya)Atlantic-Congo7.6%4,426,726Not endangered
GusiiAtlantic-Congo4.9%2,854,074Not endangered
MeruAtlantic-Congo4%2,329,856Not endangered
MasaiNilotic1.6%931,942Not endangered
EmbuAtlantic-Congo1.5%873,696Not endangered
SomaliAfro-Asiatic1.3%757,203Not endangered
TaitaAtlantic-Congo0.8%477,620Not endangered
TesoNilotic0.7%431,023Not endangered
PökootNilotic0.7%401,900Not endangered
West Central OromoAfro-Asiatic0.5%273,758Not endangered
SamburuNilotic0.5%267,933Not endangered
AdholaNiloticNot endangered
Asu (Tanzania)Atlantic-CongoNot endangered
AweerAfro-AsiaticShifting
Borana-Arsi-Guji OromoAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
BukusuAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BurjiAfro-AsiaticThreatened
Chonyi-Dzihana-KaumaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
ChukaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Cutchi-SwahiliAtlantic-CongoThreatened
DaasanachAfro-AsiaticThreatened
DahaloAfro-AsiaticShifting
DigoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
DurumaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
East NyalaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GarreAfro-AsiaticThreatened
GiryamaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GwenoAtlantic-CongoShifting
HadiyyaAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
Hamer-BannaSouth OmoticThreatened
Idakho-Isukha-TirikiAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
IkKuliakThreatened
IlwanaAtlantic-CongoShifting
KabrasAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
KaheAtlantic-CongoThreatened
KaramojongNiloticNot endangered

Read more: where is Swahili spoken?

Language families in Kenya

All 83 languages in Kenya, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Kenya 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 Kenya

How many languages are spoken in Kenya?

83 living languages are mapped in Kenya, 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 Kenya?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Swahili is spoken by 66% of the population, about 38,442,624 people, followed by English (19%). 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 Kenya?

Atlantic-Congo (45 languages), Nilotic (19 languages), Afro-Asiatic (15 languages), Indo-European (1 language) and South Omotic (1 language), and 1 more.

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