The Swahili (Kiswahili) language is a Bantu language and the
first language of the Swahili people. It is a lingua franca of the African
Great Lakes region and other parts of Southeast Africa, including Tanzania,
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. The closely related Comorian language, spoken in the Comoros Islands, is
sometimes considered a dialect.
Although only around fifteen to fifty million people speak Swahili
as their first language, it is used as a lingua franca in much of Southeast
Africa. Estimates of the total number of Swahili speakers vary widely, from 60 million
to over 150 million.Swahili serves as a national or official language of four
nations: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its
dialects are used as official languages in Comoros - Shikomor and Mayotte -
Shimaore. It is also one of the official languages of the African Union and
East African Community.
A significant fraction of Swahili vocabulary is derived from
Arabic through contact with Arabic-speaking Muslim inhabitants of the Swahili
Coast. It has also incorporated German, Portuguese, English, Hindustani and
French words into its vocabulary through contact with empire builders, traders
and slavers during the past five centuries.
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