Languages of Nigeria

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Nigeria
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The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521. This number includes 510 living languages, 2 second languages without native speakers and 9 extinct languages. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. The official language of Nigeria, English, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. The choice of English as the official language was partially related to the fact that a part of Nigerian population spoke English as a result of British colonial occupation that ended in 1960. The major languages spoken in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, Efik, Adamawa, Fulfulde, Idoma, and Central Kanuri. Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English, being the official language, is widely used for education, business transactions and for official purposes. English, however, remains an exclusive preserve of a small minority of the country's urban elite, and is not spoken in rural areas. With approximately 75% of Nigeria's populace in the rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain tribal languages, with the most widely spoken being Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

[edit] Other languages

Ebira
Edo
Fulfulde
Ibibio
Izon
Kanuri
Tiv
Urhobo
Nupe
Isoko
Ukwuani
Bade

[edit] Bibliography

Blench, Roger (2002) Research on Minority Languages in Nigeria in 2001. Ogmios.
Blench, Roger (1998) 'The Status of the Languages of Central Nigeria', in Brenzinger, M. (ed.) Endangered languages in Africa. Köln: Köppe Verlag, 187-206. online version
Crozier, David & Blench, Roger (1992) An Index of Nigerian Languages (2nd edition). Dallas: SIL.