World Language Map

Languages spoken in Nigeria

528 living languages are mapped in Nigeria. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is English (53% of the population). They belong to 9 language families, the largest being Atlantic-Congo (379 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 Nigeria at a glance

  • 528living languages
  • 9language families
  • 236.7 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 11with a CLDR share

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

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-European53%125,475,910Not endangered
Nigerian PidginIndo-European21%49,716,870Not endangered
HausaAfro-Asiatic14%33,144,580Not endangered
IgboAtlantic-Congo13%30,777,110Not endangered
YorubaAtlantic-Congo13%30,777,110Not endangered
Hausa States FulfuldeAtlantic-Congo6.7%15,862,049Not endangered
TivAtlantic-Congo1.6%3,787,952Not endangered
EfikAtlantic-Congo1.4%3,314,458Not endangered
IbibioAtlantic-Congo1.4%3,314,458Not endangered
BiniAtlantic-Congo0.7%1,680,904Not endangered
JjuAtlantic-Congo0.2%497,169Not endangered
AbanyomAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AbonAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AbuaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AbureniAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Adamawa FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AfadeAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
AgatuAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AgwagwuneAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AjiriAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AkpaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AkpesAtlantic-CongoShifting
AkukuAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AkumAtlantic-CongoShifting
AkyeAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AlagoAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AlegeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AmboAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AmoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AnaangAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AninkaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
ArigidiAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
ArumAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AsheAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Asu (Nigeria)Atlantic-CongoNot endangered
AtsamAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AwakAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AyereAtlantic-CongoShifting
AyuAtlantic-CongoMoribund
BaaAtlantic-CongoThreatened

Read more: where is English spoken?

Language families in Nigeria

All 528 languages in Nigeria, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Nigeria 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 Nigeria

How many languages are spoken in Nigeria?

528 living languages are mapped in Nigeria, from 9 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 Nigeria?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, English is spoken by 53% of the population, about 125,475,910 people, followed by Nigerian Pidgin (21%). 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 Nigeria?

Atlantic-Congo (379 languages), Afro-Asiatic (121 languages), Ijoid (10 languages), Mande (5 languages) and Songhay (4 languages), and 4 more.

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