Languages

People from varied racial and linguistic backgrounds make up South Africa's population. The official languages of the nation are eleven different tongues. English and Dutch were the first official languages. The majority of people in South Africa are multilingual. Zulu, which is spoken by 23% of the population and is notably common among South African natives, is the most often spoken language.

Xhosa and Afrikaans are spoken by 16% and 14% of the population, respectively. The 10 million Zulu people speak the Zulu language. In the entire population, 50% of people can understand it. In 1994, the Zulu language was recognized as a national tongue. More than 11 million people speak Xhosa as a second language, and 8 million people speak it as their mother tongue.

The Eastern Cape Province is home to the vast majority of Xhosa speakers. Afrikaans developed from Dutch and has borrowed words from Khoisan and German, among other languages. The most frequently spoken language in South Africa is English, which is also the most popular second language among its citizens.