Languages of Burkina Faso

Languages of Burkina Faso
Ethnolinguistic map of Burkina Faso
OfficialMooré, Bissa, Dyula, Fula
Semi-officialAfrican French (working language)
IndigenousMande languages, Gur languages, Senufo languages, Wara–Natyoro languages, Hausa, Humburi Senni, Siamou, Tamasheq, Western Plains Dogon
ForeignEnglish, Punjabi, Spanish, German, Italian, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, Danish, Dutch
SignedAmerican Sign Language
Burkina Sign Language
Blackboard with text in Mooré, the most spoken language in the country.

Burkina Faso is a multilingual country. An estimated 70 languages are spoken there, of which about 66 are indigenous.[1] Mooré is spoken by about 52.5% of the population, mainly in the central region around the capital, Ouagadougou.

In the west, Mande languages are widely spoken, the most predominant being Dyula (also spelled Jula or Dioula), others including Bobo, Samo, and Marka. Peul (Fula: fulfulde), a dialect of Fulani, is spoken in the north, however it is widely spoken throughout the country as a lingua franca. Gourmantché is spoken in the east, while the Bissa language is spoken in the south.[2]

In 2024, the Francophone population of Burkina Faso represents 22.8%, which is approximately 5,379,000 people. Among them, 1.3% (around 302,000 individuals) speak French as their first language.[3] Additionally, 5,063,000 people, or 21.5% of the total population of 23,550,000, use French as a second language.[4]

Education for the deaf in Burkina uses American Sign Language, which was introduced by the deaf American missionary Andrew Foster. The Burkina Sign Language is used in Ouagadougou.[5]

  1. ^ Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. (Page on "Languages of Burkina Faso.")
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference dict was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ French speaking countries
  4. ^ "Accueil-Francoscope". ODSEF (Observatoire démographique et statistique de l'espace francophone de l'Université Laval) & l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (in French). Laval, Québec.
  5. ^ Brentari, Diane (2010). Sign Languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 406. ISBN 978-1139487399.