Venda language

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{{language |name=Venda |nativename=Tshivenda |states=South Africa and Zimbabwe |region=Limpopo Province |speakers=750,000 |familycolor=Niger-Congo |fam2=Atlantic-Congo |fam3=Volta-Congo |fam4=Benue-Congo |fam5=Bantoid |fam6=Southern Bantoid |fam7=Narrow Bantu |nation=South Africa |iso1=ve|iso2=ven|iso3=ven}}

Venda, also known as Tshivenda or Chivenda, is a Bantu language. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa (where Venda is an official language), but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe. Before South Africa became a democratic country, the bantustan of Venda was set up to cover the Venda speakers of South Africa.


Contents

Classification

Venda belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages.

Geographic distribution

Venda is spoken by about 666,000 people in the northern part of South Africa's Limpopo Province, as well as 84,000 people in Zimbabwe.

Official status

Venda is an official language in South Africa.


External links

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Template:Languages of South Africa Template:Nc-lang-stubaf:Venda (taal) bg:Венда br:Vendeg de:Venda (Sprache) es:Idioma venda fr:Venda (langue) nl:Venda (taal) ja:ヴェンダ語 fi:Vendan kieli