Languages spoken in Algeria
Africa · Capital: Algiers · Population 47 million
In Algeria, two languages have official status: Arabic and French. Algerian Arabic is the most widely spoken language, with an estimated 83% of the population speaking it as a first or additional language, or roughly 39 million people. Algerian Arabic itself holds no official status in Algeria, despite being the most widely spoken. After Algerian Arabic, the most widely spoken are Arabic at 74% and French at 33%. Algerian Arabic is not recorded in any of Algeria's seven neighbours. In total, six languages are recorded in Algeria, and their shares add up to 215.8% of the population, which implies the average resident speaks about 2.2 of them.
What languages are spoken in Algeria?
| Language | Share of population | Status | Estimated speakers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algerian Arabic | 83% | Spoken | 39 million |
| ArabicAfro-Asiatic | 74% | Official | 34.8 million |
| FrenchIndo-European | 33% | Official | 15.5 million |
| HassaniyyaAfro-Asiatic | 11% | Spoken | 5.2 million |
| Kabyle | 7.8% | Spoken | 3.7 million |
| EnglishIndo-European | 7% | Spoken | 3.3 million |
Percentages are the share of the population that speaks each language, including as a second language, so they add up to well over 100% in multilingual countries. Speaker counts are estimates derived from the percentage and the country's population, not counted figures.
What is the official language of Algeria?
In Algeria, two languages have official status: Arabic and French. Arabic is spoken by an estimated 74% of the population, or roughly 34.8 million people, counting both first-language and additional speakers. That is not the most widely spoken language in the country: Algerian Arabic is, at 83%.
Official status comes from Unicode CLDR. It distinguishes languages that are official nationwide, those used as de facto official without being named in law, and those official only in particular regions or territories.
How many people speak Algerian Arabic in Algeria?
An estimated 83% of Algeria's 47 million people speak Algerian Arabic, which works out at roughly 39 million speakers. That figure is derived from the population and the reported share, and it counts second-language speakers, so it is an estimate rather than a census count.
Key facts about Algeria
- Capital
- Algiers
- Population
- 47 million
- Continent
- Africa
- Area
- 2,381,741 km²
- Currency
- DZD
- Languages recorded
- 6
- Land borders
- 7
- ISO codes
- DZ / DZA / 012
Which countries border Algeria?
Algeria shares a land border with seven countries: Western Sahara, Libya, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Tunisia. None of them records Algerian Arabic, the most widely spoken language in Algeria, so the land borders here are also language borders.
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Language shares, population, and official status: Unicode CLDR. Capital, area, borders, and currency: mledoze/countries (ODbL 1.0). Flag image: flagcdn.com. Speaker counts are estimates derived from population and reported share.