World Language Map

Languages spoken in Madagascar

15 living languages are mapped in Madagascar. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Plateau Malagasy (90% of the population). They belong to 3 language families, the largest being Austronesian (12 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 Madagascar at a glance

  • 15living languages
  • 3language families
  • 29.5 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 3with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Madagascar. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

Languages spoken in Madagascar

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
Plateau MalagasyAustronesian90%26,507,430Not endangered
FrenchIndo-European27%7,952,229Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European18%5,301,486Not endangered
Antankarana MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Bara MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Mahafaly-Antanalana MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Maore ComorianAtlantic-CongoShifting
Masikoro MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Northern Betsimisaraka MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Southern Betsimisaraka MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Tandroy MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Tanosy MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Tesaka MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
Tsimihety MalagasyAustronesianNot endangered
West Malagasy SakalavaAustronesianNot endangered

Read more: where is Plateau Malagasy spoken?

Language families in Madagascar

About these numbers

The list of languages in Madagascar 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 Madagascar

How many languages are spoken in Madagascar?

15 living languages are mapped in Madagascar, from 3 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 Madagascar?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Plateau Malagasy is spoken by 90% of the population, about 26,507,430 people, followed by French (27%). 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 Madagascar?

Austronesian (12 languages), Indo-European (2 languages) and Atlantic-Congo (1 language).

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