Kiswahili has become a second language spoken by tens of
millions in three African Great Lakes countries, Tanzania, Kenya, and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is an official or national language. The
neighboring nation of Uganda made Swahili a required subject in primary schools
in 1992—although this mandate has not been well implemented—and declared it an
official language in 2005 in preparation for the East African Federation.
Swahili, or other closely related languages, is spoken by relatively small
numbers of people in Burundi, the Comoros, Rwanda, northern Zambia, Malawi, and
Mozambique and the language was still understood in the southern ports of the
Red Sea and along the coasts of southern Arabia and the Persian Gulf in the
twentieth century.
Some 80 percent of approximately 49 million Tanzanians speak
Swahili in addition to their first languages. Many of the rising generation of
Tanzania, however, speak Swahili as a primary language due to decreases
traditional culture and the rise of a more unified culture in urban areas.
Kenya's population is comparable as well, with a greater part of the nation
being able to speak Swahili. Most educated Kenyans are able to communicate
fluently in Swahili, since it is a compulsory subject in school from grade one
to high school and a distinct academic discipline in many of the public and
private universities.
The five eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of
Congo are Swahili-speaking. Nearly half the 66 million Congolese reportedly
speak it, and it is starting to rival Lingala as the most important national
language of that country.
In Uganda, the Baganda and residents of Buganda generally do
not speak Swahili, but it is in common use among the 25 million people
elsewhere in the country and is currently being implemented in schools
nationwide in preparation for the East African Community.
The usage of Swahili in other countries is commonly
overstated, being widespread only in market towns, among returning refugees, or
near the borders of Kenya and Tanzania. Even so, Swahili speakers may number
some 120 to 150 million people. Many of the world's institutions have responded
to Swahili's growing prominence.
Methali (e.g. Haraka haraka haina baraka – Hurry hurry has
no blessing), i.e. "wordplay, risqué or suggestive puns and lyric rhyme,
are deeply inscribed in Swahili culture, in form of Swahili parables, proverbs,
and allegory". Methali is uncovered globally within 'Swah' rap music. It
provides the music with rich cultural, historical, and local textures and
insight.
