World Language Map

Languages spoken in Sudan

97 living languages are mapped in Sudan. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is English (61% of the population). They belong to 24 language families, the largest being Heibanic (11 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 Sudan at a glance

  • 97living languages
  • 24language families
  • 50.5 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 9with a CLDR share

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

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-European61%30,785,053Not endangered
Standard ArabicAfro-Asiatic61%30,785,053Not endangered
Sudanese ArabicAfro-Asiatic61%30,785,053Not endangered
BejaAfro-Asiatic5.4%2,725,234Not endangered
FurFuran2.7%1,362,617Not endangered
HausaAfro-Asiatic1.8%908,411Not endangered
MasalitMaban1%499,626Not endangered
NobiinNubian0.8%418,879Threatened
BeriaSaharan0.5%257,383Not endangered
AcheronNarrow TalodiThreatened
Adamawa FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AfittiNyimangShifting
Aja (South Sudan)Kresh-AjaShifting
AkaEastern JebelShifting
Ama (Sudan)NyimangNot endangered
AmiraTegem
AssangoriTamaicThreatened
BertaIsolateShifting
BongoCentral SudanicThreatened
Central KanuriSaharanNot endangered
Chadian ArabicAfro-AsiaticNot endangered
DagikNarrow TalodiNot endangered
DairNubianShifting
Dar Fur DajuDajuicNot endangered
Dar Sila DajuDajuicShifting
DazagaSaharanNot endangered
DillingNubianShifting
Dongo KreshKresh-AjaThreatened
EbangHeibanicThreatened
El HugeiratNubianMoribund
GaamEastern JebelNot endangered
GanzaBlue Nile MaoShifting
Gula (Central African Republic)Central SudanicNot endangered
JuludKatla-TimaShifting
JumjumNiloticNot endangered
KadaruNubianShifting
KangaKadugli-KrongoShifting
Kara (Central African Republic)Central SudanicShifting
KarkoNubianShifting
Katcha-Kadugli-MiriKadugli-KrongoThreatened

Read more: where is English spoken?

Language families in Sudan

All 97 languages in Sudan, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Sudan 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 Sudan

How many languages are spoken in Sudan?

97 living languages are mapped in Sudan, from 24 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 Sudan?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, English is spoken by 61% of the population, about 30,785,053 people, followed by Standard Arabic (61%). 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 Sudan?

Heibanic (11 languages), Nubian (10 languages), Afro-Asiatic (9 languages), Nilotic (8 languages) and Narrow Talodi (7 languages), and 19 more.

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