This is a list of lingua francas. A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a first language, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both speakers' first languages. Examples of lingua francas are numerous and exist on every continent. The most utilized modern example is English, which is the current dominant lingua franca of international diplomacy, business, science, technology and aviation, but many other languages serve, or have served at different historical periods, as lingua francas in particular regions, countries, or in special contexts.
Africa
Akan Akan can be regarded as the main lingua franca of Ghana, although mainly in the south.
Afrikaans During apartheid, the South African government aimed to establish Afrikaans as the primary lingua franca in South Africa and South African-controlled South-West Africa (now Namibia), although English was also in common use. Since the end of apartheid, English has been widely adopted as the sole lingua franca even though it was replaced with a new language. Many institutions that had names in English and Afrikaans have since dropped the Afrikaans names. Notable cases are South African Airways and the South African Broadcasting Corporation. In Namibia, Afrikaans holds a more universal role than in South Africa, across ethnic groups and races and is the spoken lingua franca in the capital Windhoek and throughout most of central and southern Namibia. There are pockets where German is commonly spoken. English is the sole official language.
Amharic Amharic is the primary lingua franca used in major cities and towns across Ethiopia.
Arabic There are more Arabic speakers in Africa than in Asia. It is spoken as an official language in all of the continent's Arab League states. Arabic is also spoken as a trade language across the Sahara as far as the Sahel, including parts of Mali, Chad and Borno State in Nigeria. Varieties and Arabic-based pidgins function as the lingua francas of Sudan (Sudanese Arabic), Chad (Chadian Arabic; mainly in the northern half of the country), and South Sudan (Juba Arabic; mainly the Equatoria region). Sudan has a majority of people that speak Arabic natively and minorities that speak various other languages in addition to Arabic, while native Arabic speakers are a significant minority in Chad and a very small minority in South Sudan.
Ewondo Ewondo is a lingua franca used in Cameroon's Centre Region, including the capital Yaounde, often in a pidginized form known as Ewondo Populaire. However, Cameroon is one of the African countries where French is most widely spread, and Ewondo's status may be coming under threat. Ewondo is mutually intelligible with Fang, which is the main language of the neighboring Río Muni mainland of Equatorial Guinea, as well as a major language of Gabon.
Fanagalo Fanagalo or Fanakalo is a pidgin based on the Zulu, English, and Afrikaans languages. It was used as a lingua franca mainly in the mining industries in South Africa, however, in this role, it is being increasingly eclipsed by English which is viewed as being more neutral politically.
Fon Fon is regarded as the lingua franca of the southern third of Benin, which is the most densely populated area and includes the largest cities and the national capital.
Fula Fula (Fula: Fulfulde or Pulaar or Pular, depending on the region; French: Peul) the language of the Fula people or Fulani (Fula: Fulɓe; French: Peuls) and associated groups such as the Toucouleur. Fula is spoken in all countries directly south of the Sahara (such as Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Mali...). It is spoken mainly by Fula people, but is also used as a lingua franca by several populations of various origins, throughout Western Africa. One region where it is particularly important as a link language is the Adamawa Plateau of northern Cameroon, which, although largely populated by non-Fula people, was united and ruled by Fula conquerors prior to colonial rule. Fula is also the main lingua franca of the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso.
Hausa Hausa is widely spoken throughout Nigeria and Niger and recognised in neighbouring states such as Ghana, Benin, and Cameroon. The reason for this is that Hausa people used to be traders who led caravans with goods (cotton, leather, slaves, food crops etc.) through the whole West African region, from the Niger Delta to the Atlantic shores at the very west edge of Africa. They also reached North African states through Trans-Saharan routes. Thus trade deals in Timbuktu in modern Mali, Agadez, Ghat, Fez in Northern Africa, and other trade centers were often concluded in Hausa. Today, Hausa is the most widely spoken language in West Africa; although its speakers are mainly concentrated in the traditional Hausa heartland, it functions as the lingua franca of Nigeria's multilingual Middle Belt, including the capital of Abuja, and is also widely spoken and understood in other countries, especially northern Ghana, both because of Hausa settlement in other areas, and the influence of Hausa media.
Kanuri Kanuri has historically been an important lingua franca around the Lake Chad region due to its association with the powerful Kanem-Borno empire. However, since the creation of the modern nation-states of Nigeria and Niger, it has declined somewhat in prestige, due to the expansion of the populous Hausa language.
Kituba A pidgin based on the Kongo language which originated when Belgian colonists enlisted West African labor to help build a local railroad, Kituba is used in the southern half of the Republic of the Congo and the Kwilu and Kwango provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Krio The Krio language of the Sierra Leone Creole people is the lingua franca and de facto national language of Sierra Leone spoken by 96% of the country's population. Krio is distinct from West African Pidgin English and is strongly influenced by British English, Gullah, African American Vernacular English, Jamaican Creole, Akan, Igbo and Yoruba.
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