The Congolese army recognizes Lingala as its official language. In Kinshasa, it is the primary Bantu language. It became a lingua franca amongst different ethnic groups, particularly in the north, that spoke many different languages. The Lingala language developed in the upper region of the Congo and rapidly spread to the Middle Congo under colonial rule, mainly under the influence of missionaries who wanted to establish institutions like schools and healthcare centers. Many people in the country’s urban centers speak Kituba, while Kikongo is more commonly expressed in rural areas. Kituba is a creole language hybrid of Kikongo and French. There are different dialects of Kikongo, though, and the one that is officially known is Kituba. The constitution of the Congo recognizes Kikongo as a national language. The dialect of French that is expressed in the Congo bears more resemblances to Belgian French, the language of the country’s colonizers, than it does to Parisian French. Though a significant minority does not speak French, it is used as a lingua franca across different ethnic languages. In the capital city of Kinshasa, two-thirds of the population speaks French. The Congo is the largest Francophone country in the world, as over 33 million Congolese people – one-third of the country’s population – are literate in the French language. The Official Language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The languages that are spoken in the Congo are primarily from the Bantu language group of the Niger-Congo language family. Even within major urban centers, such as the capital of Kinshasa, many different language groups are represented. Today, at least 215 languages are spoken throughout the Congo, most of them local, regional languages. As a result, the Congo was one of the only colonized countries in Africa that taught literacy in indigenous languages. The four national languages were initially identified by the Belgian government as national languages of the Congo, which enabled them to be taught in schools across the country. Though French is today the official language of the Congo, Lingala, Kituba (also known as Kikongo), Tshiluba, and Swahili are recognized as national languages. Foreign influence in the Congo is heavily reflected in the languages that are spoken there. The Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 and has been engaged in civil war for much of the time since then, at least in part due to foreign powers trying to exert influence on the country. However, many indigenous languages were already spoken there and continue to be spoken today. As a result, French became the country’s lingua franca, as it was the language of the colonial power. It was colonized by Belgium under King Leopold II at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is commonly referred to only as the Congo (or sometimes just Congo) is located in central Africa. One of the most distinctive characteristics common to Atlantic-Congo languages is the use of a noun-class system, which is essentially a gender system with multiple genders.The official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is French, though there are over 200 languages spoken there. The connection of the Mande languages especially has never been demonstrated, and without them, the validity of Niger-Congo family as a whole (as opposed to Atlantic-Congo or a similar subfamily) has not been established. Other primary branches may include Dogon, Mande, Ijo, Katla and Rashad. While the ultimate genetic unity of the core of Niger-Congo (called Atlantic-Congo) is widely accepted, the internal cladistic structure is not well established. The most widely spoken by the total number of speakers is Swahili, which is used as a lingua franca in parts of eastern and southeastern Africa. The most widely spoken Niger–Congo languages by number of native speakers are Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Shona, Sesotho, Zulu, Akan, and Mooré. Within Niger-Congo, the Bantu languages alone account for 350 million people (2015), or half the total Niger-Congo speaking population. If valid, it would be the third-largest language family in the world by number of native speakers, comprising around 700 million people as of 2015. Map showing the distribution of major Niger–Congo languages.
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