How Many Countries In Africa Speak English As Their Official Language
Namibia kenya sierra leone liberia south africa and nigeria.
How many countries in africa speak english as their official language. But with slang accents and history in the mix it s not always easy to understand or be understood when speaking english in africa. With words from many different languages making their way into the modern english lexicon as well. Since 2011 english is the sole official language of south sudan. These include zimbabwe uganda zambia botswana.
As of 2019 there were 55 sovereign states and 27 non sovereign entities where english was an official language many country subdivisions have declared english an official language at the local or regional level. Though english is listed as an official language in these countries many people may not speak english. English is spoken as the primary language in many countries around the world with. More than 23 african countries list english as one of their official languages.
While its roots are germanic the language has adopted many words that originated in other languages. The language has been developing for over a thousand years. By gregory sousa on june 12 2018 in society. Today more and more african nations are planning to adopt english as an official language.
English speaking countries in africa. Madagascar is excluded because of its distinct cultural heritage and language. Arabic alongside english was an official language in south sudan from 1863 these days a part of egypt eyalet 1517 1867 until 2011 that time the independent state republic of south sudan when the former government canceled arabic as an official language. Most of these countries where english is spoken are former british colonies except for rwanda and eritrea that were colonized by belgium and italy respectively.
How many countries in africa have english as official language. Here are the english speaking countries in africa. There are 25 countries in the continent in which english is spoken as an official language. The expanding circle is comprised of countries where many people have learned or are learning english as a foreign language.
It was named after a germanic tribe the angles that migrated to england. It is the mostly widely spoken second language in the world and an official language of the united nations the european union and many other international organizations and businesses. South africa for example has 11 different official languages and even more languages and dialects are spoken in the country. Sierra leone and liberia are the only countries in africa where english is spoken as the primary language.
There are more than a dozen african countries where english is an official language. The following is a list of territories where english is an official language that is a language used in citizen interactions with government officials. Most african countries have many different official languages.