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( Somali language)
Somali (Somali Af Soomaali, Arabic ??????????) is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya, as well as by the Somali diaspora around the world—an estimated total population of between 10 and 16 million speakers. In 1972, Somali was declared the official language of Somalia. It is used in education, administration and the media. Somali is an Afro-Asiatic language, of the East Cushitic branch. It is most closely related to Afar and Oromo. Compared with other Cushitic languages, Somali is relatively well-documented, with academic studies of the language dating from around 1900. The exact number of speakers of Somali is unknown. One source estimates that there are 7.78 million speakers of Somali in Somalia itself and 12.65 million speakers globally.[1] A population estimate made by the Dutch Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht puts the Somali population somewhere between 10 and 15 million.[2] Combined with a large international expatriate community, it is difficult to get a specific number of Somali speakers, but somewhere between 10 and 16 million worldwide seems a reasonable estimate.
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Somali language Subcategories
Somali language Articles
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