Niger–Congo languages

Niger–Congo is a proposed family of African languages spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic–Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups of languages that are difficult to classify. If valid, Niger–Congo would be the world's largest language family in terms of member languages, the third-largest in terms of speakers, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area. The number of named Niger–Congo languages listed by Ethnologue is 1,540. The proposed family would be the third-largest in the world by number of native speakers, with around 600 million people as of 2025. Within Niger–Congo, the Bantu languages alone account for 350 million people (2015), or half the total Niger–Congo speaking population. The most widely spoken Niger–Congo languages by number of native speakers include Yoruba, Fula, Igbo, Lingala, Mooré, Ewe, Fon, Zulu, Shona, Xhosa, Twi and Fante, Sesotho, Swahili, Edo, Gã and Dangme; 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. 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. Other primary branches may include Mande, Dogon, Ijaw, Katla and Rashad. The connection of the Mande languages is often contested; see however Pozdniakov & Vydrin (2026) for argumentation in favor of belonging of the Mande family to the Niger-Congo macrofamily. One of the most distinctive characteristics common to Atlantic–Congo languages is the use of a noun-class system.