World Language Map

Languages spoken in Ghana

90 living languages are mapped in Ghana. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Akan (39% of the population). They belong to 4 language families, the largest being Atlantic-Congo (85 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 Ghana at a glance

  • 90living languages
  • 4language families
  • 34.6 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 9with a CLDR share

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

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
AkanAtlantic-Congo39%13,489,749Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European21%7,263,711Not endangered
EweAtlantic-Congo11%3,804,801Not endangered
AbronAtlantic-Congo5%1,729,455Not endangered
FarefareAtlantic-Congo3.5%1,210,618Not endangered
AdangmeAtlantic-Congo3%1,037,673Not endangered
GaAtlantic-Congo2.8%968,495Not endangered
NzimaAtlantic-Congo1%345,891Not endangered
HausaAfro-Asiatic0.9%297,466Not endangered
AdangbeAtlantic-CongoThreatened
AdeleAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AhantaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AnimereAtlantic-CongoMoribund
AnufoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AnyinAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AvatimeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
AwutuAtlantic-CongoShifting
BimobaAtlantic-CongoThreatened
BissaMandeNot endangered
Bondoukou KulangoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Bouna KulangoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
Buli (Ghana)Atlantic-CongoNot endangered
Central DagaareAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
ChakaliAtlantic-CongoShifting
ChalaAtlantic-CongoShifting
ChereponAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
ChumburungAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
DagbaniAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
DegAtlantic-CongoThreatened
DeloAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
DompoAtlantic-CongoMoribund
DwangAtlantic-CongoShifting
Ghanaian Pidgin EnglishIndo-EuropeanNot endangered
GikyodeAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GonjaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
GuaAtlantic-CongoNot endangered
HangaAtlantic-CongoShifting
IgoAtlantic-CongoShifting
IkpanaAtlantic-CongoShifting
IkposoAtlantic-CongoNot endangered

Read more: where is Akan spoken?

Language families in Ghana

All 90 languages in Ghana, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Ghana 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 Ghana

How many languages are spoken in Ghana?

90 living languages are mapped in Ghana, from 4 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 Ghana?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Akan is spoken by 39% of the population, about 13,489,749 people, followed by English (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 Ghana?

Atlantic-Congo (85 languages), Indo-European (2 languages), Mande (2 languages) and Afro-Asiatic (1 language).

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