Last modification: December 6, 2007

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10; NIV)

There are more than 6900 different languages in the world. People from almost 2300 linguistic groups do not have access to the Bible in their heart language.  (Wycliffe Canada – statistics)

On this page:

• Languages of the Republic of Congo – general survey

In the future:

• Lingala
• Kituba (Munukutuba)
• Beembe
• Bekwel
• Mbochi
• Teke
• Vili

Languages of the Republic of Congo – general survey

As many countries in Africa, Congo inherited French as its official language from its colonial past. It is the government language, and the school language. In general, one will learn French when starting school, and the competency to speak and write it will depend on the level of instruction reached.

Lingala is Congo's national language. It is also the trade language for the north of the country. (A trade language is a language used by groups speaking different mother-tongues, in order to communicate among themselves.) Munukutuba is the trade language for the south.

Some 60 other “languages” are listed for the country. Some are languages in their own right, others are variants of a main language (dialects). Among those languages, we find Beembe, Bekwel, Mbochi, Teke, and Vili.