Languages of Zambia

Indigenous Zambian languages

Zambia has 72 languages, some of which have a long history in Zambia, while others, such as Silozi, arose as a result of 18th- and 19th-century migrations. All of Zambia's major languages by native-speaker population are members of the Bantu family and are closely related to one another.

Seven native languages are officially recognized as regional languages. Together, these represent the major languages of each province: Bemba (Northern Province, Luapula, Muchinga and the Copperbelt), Nyanja (Lusaka and the Eastern Province), Lozi (Western Province), Tonga and Lozi (Southern Province), and Kaonde, Luvale and Lunda (Northwestern Province). These seven languages are used, together with English, in early primary schooling and in some government publications. A common orthography was approved by the Ministry of Education in 1977.

According to the 2000 census, Zambia's most widely spoken languages are Bemba (spoken by 35% of the population as either a first or second language), Nyanja (37%), Tonga (25%) and Lozi (18%).

In some languages, particularly Bemba and Nyanja, Zambians distinguish between a "deep" form of the language, associated with older and more traditional speakers in rural areas, and urban forms (sometimes called "town language" or Chitauni, such as Town Bemba and Town Nyanja) that incorporate a large number of borrowings from English and other innovations.

An urban variety of Nyanja is the lingua franca of the capital Lusaka and is widely spoken as a second language throughout Zambia. Bemba, the country's largest indigenous language, also serves as a lingua franca in some areas.