Languages of Namibia
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language families: Germanic, Bantu, and the various Khoisan families. When Namibia was administered by South Africa, Afrikaans, German, and English enjoyed an equal status as official languages. Upon Namibian independence in 1990, English was enshrined as the nation's sole official language in the constitution of Namibia. German and Afrikaans were stigmatised as relics of the colonial past,[1] while the rising of Mandela's Youth League and the 1951 Defiance Campaign spread English among the masses as the language of the campaign against apartheid.[2]
Language demographicsThe most widely indigenous spoken languages are Kxoe.[4] English, the official language, is spoken by 3% of people as their native language. Portuguese was spoken by 4–5% of the total population, i.e. 100,000 people, made up mostly of the Angolan community in 2014.[5] The number of Angolans in Namibia declined from 2014 to 2015, affected by the neighbouring country's economic crisis.[6]
Indigenous languages are included in the school at primary level, while German and English is the communication language between ethnic groups.
Languages most often spoken in Namibian households
Source: 2001 Census[8] and 2011 Census[9] See alsoReferences
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