About 69
languages: Baoulé, Sénoufo, Yao Una, Agni, Attié (or Akyé), Guéré, Bété, Dyula, Abé, Mahou, Wobé, Lobi, Guro, Mooré
Vernacular
African French
Foreign
List
Arabic
English
Signed
Francophone African Sign Language
Keyboard layout
French AZERTY
Linguistic map of Ivory Coast: Kru languages in green, Mande languages in yellow, Gur languages in purple, Akan languages in blue[1]University in Abidjan (Université catholique de l'Afrique de l'ouest à Cocody)
Ivory Coast is a multilingual country with an estimated 69
languages currently spoken.[2] The official language, French, was introduced during the colonial period. This language is taught in schools and serves as a lingua franca in the country, along with Dioula.
Ivory Coast is a Francophone country, and in 2024, French is spoken by 10 million people out of 28.9 million (33.61%).[3]
The seventy or so indigenous languages fall into five main branches of the Niger–Congo family. In the southeastern quadrant are Kwa languages, some such as Baoulé and Anyin (2–3 million and 1 million speakers) part of a dialect continuum with Akan in Ghana, others such as Attié (or Akyé) (half a million) more divergent. Baoulé is spoken east of Lake Kossou and at the capital Yamoussoukro, and Anyi along the Ghanaian border. In the southwestern quadrant are Kru languages, such as Bete and We (Gure/Wobe), half a million apiece, and Dida (a quarter million), related to the languages of Liberia. In the northwest, along the Guinean border and across to Lake Kossou in the center of the country, are Mande languages, such as Dan (1 million speakers) and Guro (half a million, on the lake). The lake and the river Bandama divide the Kwa east of the country from the Kru and Mande west. Across the center north are various Senufo languages, such as Senari (1 million speakers). In the northeast corner, surrounding Comoé National Park, are a quarter million speakers each of Kulango, the Gur language Lobi, and the Mande language Jula (French: Dioula), which is a lingua franca of neighboring Burkina Faso.
There are also three million or so speakers of immigrant languages, mostly from neighboring countries and above all from Burkina Faso. Ethnic tensions in the north between immigrant and native Ivoirians, as well as between the Mande/Senoufo north and the Kru/Kwa south, were a large factor in the Ivorian civil wars.
Education for the deaf in Ivory Coast uses American Sign Language, introduced by the deaf American missionary Andrew Foster.
^Clem E, Jenks P, Sande H (2019). Clem E, Jenks P, Sande H (eds.). Theory and description in African Linguistics(pdf). Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3365789. ISBN 978-3-96110-205-1.
^Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. (Page on "Languages of Côte d’Ivoire." This page indicates that one of the 79 no longer has any speakers.)
^"Accueil-Francoscope".
and 23 Related for: Languages of Ivory Coast information
IvoryCoast is a multilingual country with an estimated 69 languages currently spoken. The official language, French, was introduced during the colonial...
Demographic features of the population ofIvoryCoast include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status,...
around 78 different languages spoken in IvoryCoast. The country has a religiously diverse population, including numerous followers of Islam, Christianity...
culture ofIvoryCoast, a coastal West African country bordered by Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, is exemplified by a multitude of ethnic...
The national flag ofIvoryCoast (French: drapeau de la Côte d'Ivoire) is a tricolour flag consisting of equal bands of orange (hoist side), white, and...
Human arrival in IvoryCoast (officially called Côte d'Ivoire) has been dated to the Upper Paleolithic period (15,000 to 10,000 BC), or at the minimum...
The Kru languages are spoken by the Kru people from the southeast of Liberia to the west ofIvoryCoast. According to Güldemann (2018), Kru lacks sufficient...
The music ofIvoryCoast includes music genres of many ethnic communities, often characterised by vocal polyphony especially among the Baoulé, talking...
The economy ofIvoryCoast is stable and currently growing, in the aftermath of political instability in recent decades. The IvoryCoast's economy is largely...
Jula, Dioula, Julakan ߖߎ߬ߟߊ߬ߞߊ߲) is a languageof the Mande language family spoken mainly in Burkina Faso, IvoryCoast and Mali, and also in some other countries...
most widely spoken language in Mali; Maninka or Malinké, a major languageof Guinea and Mali; and Jula, a trade languageofIvoryCoast and western Burkina...
The regions ofIvoryCoast (French: régions de la Côte d'Ivoire) are the second-level subdivisions ofIvoryCoast. There are 31 regions, and each region...
coordinates) This is a list of cities in IvoryCoast. Only the 40 most populous cities are listed here. Media related to Cities in IvoryCoast at Wikimedia Commons...
The Constitution ofIvoryCoast was approved by referendum on October 30, 2016, and officially adopted on November 8, 2016. IvoryCoast has had three constitutions...
significant minorities in IvoryCoast. A small number of speakers also exist in Sudan. Hausa is a member of the Afroasiatic language family and is the most...
Demographics ofIvoryCoast and Culture ofIvoryCoast) Specified Persons List of Ivorians Note that there is no language called "Ivorian" (for languages spoken...
sign language varieties of ASL in countries other than the US and Canada, languages based on ASL with substratum influence from local sign languages, and...
the communities) in Senegal, IvoryCoast, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. It enjoys the status of a national language in Mauritania, Mali, Senegal...
Religion in IvoryCoast is diverse, with no particular religion representing the majority of the population. According to the 2021 census, Islam (mainly...
Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, IvoryCoast and the Gambia. Manding is part of the larger Mandé family oflanguages. Bambara is spoken throughout Mali...
is a Romance languageof the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved...
Departments ofIvoryCoast (French: départements de Côte d'Ivoire) are currently the third-level administrative subdivision of the country. Each of the 31...
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