Language Information

Chichewa is spoken in Malawi where, from 1968 until recently, it has served as the national language. Chicewa is of the Bantu language family. In how many countries? Chichewa is spoken primarily in Malawi, however, it is also spoken in areas of Mozambique, Zambia as well as Zimbabwe. How many people speak it? In Malawi, out of a population of about 10 million, upwards of 65% have functoinal literacy and active command of Chichewa. In Mozambique, the language goes by the name of Chinyanja and is native to approximately 3.3% of 11.5 million inhabitants. In Zambia 16% of a 9.1 million population use Chinyanja as their first langauge. World-wide, figures show that upwards of 6 million speakers have fluent command of Chichewa/Chinyanja

Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Family: Bantu