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Tswana language

NameSetswana
NativenameSetswana
StatesBotswana
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Namibia
RegionSouthern Africa
Speakers4,521,700
FamilycolorNiger-Congo
Fam2Atlantic � Congo
Fam3Benue � Congo
Fam4Bantoid
Fam5Southern Bantoid
Fam6Bantu
Fam7Southern Bantu
Fam8Sotho � Tswana
NationBotswana
South Africa
Iso1tn
Iso2tsn
Iso3tsn
NoticeIPA

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Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger � Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S (S.30), and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi language and the Lozi language.

Tswana is an official language and lingua franca of Botswana spoken by almost 1.1 million of its inhabitants. However, the majority of Tswana speakers are found in South Africa where 3.4 million people speak the language. Until 1994, South African Tswana people were notionally citizens of Bophuthatswana, one of the few bantustans that actually became reality as planned by the Apartheid regime. A small number of speakers are also found in Zimbabwe and Namibia, where 29,400 and 12,300 people speak the language, respectively.


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