The languages of Africa are classified into at least five groups:
- Afro-Asiatic languages are spoken along North Africa (e.g. Arabic, Chadic, etc.)
- Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken along the Nile
- Niger-Congo languages are spoken in West Africa (and includes the Bantu languages)
- Khoisan languages are spoken in southern Africa
- Creoles are very common in Africa, which are languages that evolved from pidgins combining elements of African languages and at least one other usually European language (e.g. English)
- Afrikaans is an unusual example of a non-Creole Indo-European language descended from Dutch but that is spoken only in Africa
Africans also use many non-African languages as official languages (e.g. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.).