Back নাইজেরিয়ার ভাষা Bengali/Bangla Sprachen Nigerias German Lingvoj en Niĝerio Esperanto Langues au Nigeria French Harsunan Najeriya Hausa Fiteny ao Nizerià Malagasy Línguas da Nigéria Portuguese Языки Нигерии Russian Orodha ya lugha za Nigeria Swahili Мови Нігерії Ukrainian
| Languages of Nigeria | |
|---|---|
 A map of languages in Nigeria and neighbouring countries | |
| Official | English |
| National | Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba |
| Regional | Efik-Ibibio, Isoko, Edo, Tiv, Fulani, Idoma, Ijaw, Kamwe, Kanuri, Ukwuani, Urhobo, Nupe, Gbagyi |
| Vernacular | Nigerian Pidgin |
| Foreign | Arabic, French |
| Signed | |
| Keyboard layout | |
| This article is part of a series in |
| Culture of Nigeria |
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There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria.[1][2][3] The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English,[4][5] which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by over 60 million people.[5][6]
The major native languages, in terms of population, are Hausa (over 80 million when including second-language, or L2, speakers), Yoruba (over 54 million, including L2 speakers), Igbo (over 42 million, including L2 speakers), Ijaw cluster (over 15 million), Fulfulde (13 million), Kanuri (5 million), Tiv (5 million), Nupe (3 million) and approximately 2 to 3 million each of Karai-Karai Kupa, Kakanda, Edo, Igala, Idoma and Efik-Ibibio.[7] Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of much of Africa as a whole, and the country contains languages from the three major African language families: Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger–Congo. Nigeria also has several as-yet unclassified languages, such as Centúúm, which may represent a relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.[8]
- ^ "Language data for Nigeria". Translators without Borders. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "Nigeria". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ Blench, Roger (2014). An Atlas Of Nigerian Languages. Oxford: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
- ^ "Language data for Nigeria". Translators without Borders. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ a b "Nigeria: languages by number of speakers 2021". Statista. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ "Africa: Nigeria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Nigeria". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ Adeleke, Dr Wale. "Languages of Nigeria - Regions". NaijaSky. Retrieved 2020-05-27.