Tswana language

The Tswana language (or Setswana) is a language spoken in southern Africa. About five million people speak it. It is a Bantu language. It belongs to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages. It is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages.

Setswana
Setswana
Native toBotswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia
EthnicityBatswana
Native speakers(4.1 million in South Africa (2011)
1.1 million in Botswana cited 1993)e18
unknown number in Zimbabwe
7.7 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002)[1]
Language family
Writing systemLatin (Tswana alphabet)
Tswana Braille
Official status
Official language in Botswana
 South Africa
 Zimbabwe
Language codes
ISO 639-1tn
ISO 639-2tsn
ISO 639-3tsn
Linguasphere99-

Tswana is an official language of Botswana. Most Tswana speakers are in South Africa, where four million people speak the language.

Tswana Language Media

  • Geographical distribution of Setswana in South Africa: density of Setswana home-language speakers. *
    •      <1 /km²*     1–3 /km²*     3–10 /km²*     10–30 /km²*     30–100 /km²*     100–300 /km²*     300–1000 /km²*     1000–3000 /km²*     >3000 /km²*
  • References

    1. Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78