World Language Map

Languages spoken in Niger

28 living languages are mapped in Niger. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Hausa (41% of the population). They belong to 5 language families, the largest being Afro-Asiatic (11 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 Niger at a glance

  • 28living languages
  • 5language families
  • 26.3 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 5with a CLDR share

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

Languages spoken in Niger

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
HausaAfro-Asiatic41%10,800,548Not endangered
Zarma-KaadoSonghay17%4,478,276Not endangered
FrenchIndo-European13%3,424,564Not endangered
Central-Eastern Niger FulfuldeAtlantic-Congo7%1,843,996Not endangered
Standard ArabicAfro-Asiatic0.2%55,320Not endangered
Algerian Saharan ArabicAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
Bilma-Mowar KanuriSaharanNot endangered
BudumaAfro-AsiaticThreatened
Central KanuriSaharanNot endangered
Chadian ArabicAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
DazagaSaharanNot endangered
Dendi (Benin)SonghayNot endangered
GourmanchémaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
HassaniyyaAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
KanembuSaharanNot endangered
Koyraboro Senni SonghaiSonghayNot endangered
Libyan ArabicAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
Maasina FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Manga-Dagera KanuriSaharanNot endangered
TagdalSonghayThreatened
Tahaggart TamahaqAfro-AsiaticThreatened
TasawaqSonghayShifting
Tawallammat TamajaqAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
Tayart TamajeqAfro-AsiaticThreatened
TedagaSaharanThreatened
TetserretAfro-AsiaticThreatened
Tumari KanuriSaharanNot endangered
Western Niger FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered

Read more: where is Hausa spoken?

Language families in Niger

About these numbers

The list of languages in Niger 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 Niger

How many languages are spoken in Niger?

28 living languages are mapped in Niger, from 5 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 Niger?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Hausa is spoken by 41% of the population, about 10,800,548 people, followed by Zarma-Kaado (17%). 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 Niger?

Afro-Asiatic (11 languages), Saharan (7 languages), Songhay (5 languages), Atlantic-Congo (4 languages) and Indo-European (1 language).

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