Languages of South Africa

South Africa has eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.

In addition to the official eleven, the South Africa constitution also recognises eight unofficial languages, which are spoken in limited areas by small populations. These include Khoisan languages, Nama and some European languages. Indeed, many white South Africans speak a number of European languages - German, Greek and Portuguese - while Indian South Africans speak South Asian languages such as Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil.

South Africa's most widely spoken language is Zulu, followed by Xhosa, Afrikaans and English. English is most widely used as the language of official communication due to its global prevalence and the fact that many South Africans speak it as a second language. Bilingualism and multilingualism are common in the country.

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