Languages of Burundi

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (May 2018) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,602 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Langues au Burundi]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Langues au Burundi}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Languages of Burundi
A bakery in Bujumbura, incorporating signage in French and Kirundi
Official	Kirundi, French, English
National	Kirundi
Minority	Swahili
Foreign	Arabic, English, Swahili
Signed	Burundian Sign Language
Keyboard layout	QWERTY

Burundi traditionally had two official languages: Kirundi and French. English became the third official language of the country in 2014. Of these, only Kirundi is spoken by the vast majority of the population. It is recognised as the national language by the Burundian constitution of 2005.^[1]

Burundi is unusual among African states in having a single indigenous language shared by its entire population. In one estimate, 98 percent of Burundians speak Kirundi.^[2] Under Belgian colonial rule (1919–62), Kirundi was taught, whereas under German rule (1894–1916), Swahili had been encouraged.^[2] In recent years, the Burundian government has promoted the use of the Kirundi language as a way to unify the country's different ethnic groups.^[2]

The country is considered part of Francophonie. As a legacy of Belgian colonial rule, French has an important role in government, business, and the educated classes but only between 3 and 10 percent of the population speak the language fluently.^[2] Burundian vernacular French also frequently incorporates loanwords from Kirundi, Lingala and other languages.^[2] French is spoken by a significant minority and is spoken mainly as a second language, as a French pidgin, or by foreign residents of the country. English was adopted as part of moves towards regional integration with the East African Community after 2007 but has little effective presence in the country.^[2][3]

Spoken languages in Burundi include Swahili which is widely spoken in the Great Lakes region.^[2] It is especially used in commerce and in connection with the country's Muslim minority or with immigration from elsewhere in East Africa.^[2]