World Language Map

Languages spoken in the Central African Republic

95 living languages are mapped in the Central African Republic. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Sango (49% of the population). They belong to 7 language families, the largest being Atlantic-Congo (72 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 the Central African Republic at a glance

  • 95living languages
  • 7language families
  • 5.7 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 3with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in the Central African Republic. 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 the Central African Republic

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
SangoAtlantic-Congo49%2,768,970Not endangered
FrenchIndo-European29%1,638,778Not endangered
Kinshasa LingalaAtlantic-Congo0.2%13,562Not endangered
AliAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Bagirmi FulfuldeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Baka (Cameroon)Atlantic-CongoThreatened
Banda-BambariAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Banda-BandaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Banda-MbrèsAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Banda-NdéléAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Banda-YangereAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BirriCentral SudanicShifting
BobangiAtlantic-CongoThreatened
Bodo (Central African Republic)Atlantic-CongoMoribund
BofiAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BokotoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
BomitabaAtlantic-CongoThreatened
DagbaCentral SudanicNot endangered
Dendi (Central African Republic)Atlantic-CongoNot endangered
FurFuranNot endangered
FuruCentral SudanicNot endangered
GanziAtlantic-CongoShifting
GbanuAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Gbanziri-BorakaAtlantic-CongoThreatened
Gbaya-BossangoaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Gbaya-BozoumAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Gbaya-MbodomoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GbayiAtlantic-CongoShifting
GemeAtlantic-CongoShifting
GilimaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GobuAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GorCentral SudanicNot endangered
Gula (Central African Republic)Central SudanicNot endangered
GundiAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
KabaCentral SudanicNot endangered
KakoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Kara (Central African Republic)Central SudanicShifting
Kare (Central African Republic)Atlantic-CongoNot endangered
KpaguaAtlantic-CongoThreatened
KpalaAtlantic-CongoThreatened

Read more: where is Sango spoken?

Language families in the Central African Republic

All 95 languages in the Central African Republic, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in the Central African Republic 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 the Central African Republic

How many languages are spoken in the Central African Republic?

95 living languages are mapped in the Central African Republic, from 7 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 the Central African Republic?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Sango is spoken by 49% of the population, about 2,768,970 people, followed by French (29%). 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 the Central African Republic?

Atlantic-Congo (72 languages), Central Sudanic (17 languages), Maban (2 languages), Indo-European (1 language) and Furan (1 language), and 2 more.

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