Tswana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tswana
Setswana
Native to	Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia
Native speakers	(4.07 million in South Africa (2011) 1.07 million in Botswana cited 1993)e18 unknown number in Zimbabwe 7.7 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Sotho–Tswana Tswana
Writing system	Latin (Tswana alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Botswana  South Africa  Zimbabwe
Guthrie code	S.31
Linguasphere	99-AUT-eg incl. varieties 99-AUT-ega to 99-AUT-egn
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The Tswana language, also known as Setswana, is spoken in southern Africa. About five million people use it every day. It is a type of Bantu language. This means it belongs to a large group of languages found across Africa.

Setswana is part of the Niger–Congo language family. It is closely related to other Sotho languages. These include Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho.

Tswana is an official language in Botswana. This means it is used by the government and in schools there. Most Tswana speakers live in South Africa. Around four million people speak it in South Africa.