Rwanda

Summary

Official Name: Republic of Rwanda
Population: 13,174,000
Principal Languages: English, French, Kinyarwanda, Swahili
Literacy Rate: 73% (2018 UNESCO)
International Conventions: ACHPR (1987), CDE (1960), CPPDCE (2006), CSICH (2012), ICCPR (1966), UNCRPD (2006)
General References: Bendor-Samuel and Hartell 1989, Welmers 1971a
Language Counts: The number of established languages listed for Rwanda is 6. All are living languages. Of these, 3 are indigenous and 3 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 4 are institutional and 2 are developing. Also listed is 1 unestablished language.

Languages

English eng: Users: 1,865,470 in Rwanda, all users. L1 users: 5,470 in Rwanda (2011 UNSD). L2 users: 1,860,000 (Pinyon and Haydon 2010). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national working language (2003, Constitution, Article 8). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
French fra: Users: 727,030 in Rwanda, all users. L1 users: 3,030 in Rwanda (2011 UNSD). L2 users: 724,000 (Beck et al 2018). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national working language (2003, Constitution, Article 8). Alternate Names: français Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French
Kinyarwanda kin: Users: 11,600,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc). Total users in all countries: 13,806,990. Status: 1 (National). Statutory national language (2003, Constitution, Article 8). Alternate Names: Hima, Orunyarwanda, Ruanda, Rwanda, Rwandan, Urunyaruanda Autonym: Ikinyarwanda Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, J, Ruanda-Rundi (D.61)
Nyankore nyn: Users: 13,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc). Status: 5* (Dispersed). Alternate Names: Hima Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, J, Nyoro-Ganda (E.13)
Rundi run: Users: 565,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc). Status: Unestablished. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, J, Ruanda-Rundi (D.62)
Rwandan Sign Language rsn: Scattered. Users: 33,700, all users. L1 users: 33,500 (2021 S. Munana). The Rwandan deaf community (33,500) and about 200 hearing persons use RSL. L2 users: 200 (2021 S. Munana). Status: 5* (Developing). Alternate Names: Amarenga y’Ikinyarwanda, Amarenga yo mu Rwanda, RSL Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language
Swahili swh: Scattered. Users: 18,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national working language (2017, Organic Law No. 02/2017/OL of 20/04/2017). Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, G, Swahili (G.42)

Languages by Status

1 (National)

English

[eng] 1 (National). Statutory national working language (2003, Constitution, Article 8). 1,865,470 in Rwanda, all users. L1 users: 5,470 in Rwanda (2011 UNSD). L2 users: 1,860,000 (Pinyon and Haydon 2010).

French

[fra] 1 (National). Statutory national working language (2003, Constitution, Article 8). 727,030 in Rwanda, all users. L1 users: 3,030 in Rwanda (2011 UNSD). L2 users: 724,000 (Beck et al 2018).

Kinyarwanda

[kin] 1 (National). Statutory national language (2003, Constitution, Article 8). 11,600,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc). Total users in all countries: 13,806,990.

Swahili

[swh] 1 (National). Statutory national working language (2017, Organic Law No. 02/2017/OL of 20/04/2017). 18,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc).

5 (Dispersed)

Nyankore

[nyn] 5* (Dispersed). 13,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc).

5 (Developing)

Rwandan Sign Language

[rsn] 5* (Developing). 33,700, all users. L1 users: 33,500 (2021 S. Munana). The Rwandan deaf community (33,500) and about 200 hearing persons use RSL. L2 users: 200 (2021 S. Munana).

Unestablished

Rundi

[run] Unestablished. 565,000 in Rwanda (2018 J. Leclerc).

Maps

Northern Democratic Republic of Congo
Southern Democratic Republic of Congo

Graphs

Language Vitality Profile
Full explanation
This graph shows the profile of languages in Rwanda with respect to their level of language vitality. Each individual language that has an entry for Rwanda is included in the profile. The horizontal axis represents the estimated level of vitality. The height of each bar indicates the number of languages that are estimated to be at the given level.
The vitality levels and the color coding of the bars match the scheme used in the guide on How many languages are endangered? In this scheme, the levels and colors are as follows:
- Dark green = Institutional (EGIDS 0-4) — The language has been developed to the point that it is used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
- Light green = Stable (EGIDS 5-6a) — The language is not being sustained by formal institutions, but It is still the norm in the home and community that all children learn and use the language.
- Red = Endangered (EGIDS 6b-9) — It is no longer the norm that children learn and use this language.
These three summary levels have been derived by grouping levels in the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), which is the more fine-grained scale that Ethnologue uses to assess the status of every language in terms of development versus endangerment; see the Language Status page for a description of the levels of that scale. See also the pages on Development and Endangerment for more discussion.
Language Status Profile
Full explanation
This graph shows the profile of languages in Rwanda with respect to their status of language development versus language endangerment. Each individual language that has an entry for Rwanda is included in the profile. The horizontal axis represents the estimated level of development or endangerment as measured on the EGIDS scale. (See the pages on Development and Endangerment for a fuller explanation.) The height of each bar indicates the number of languages that are estimated to be at the given level. Consult the Status listings for Rwanda in order to see the specific languages for each level.
The color coding of the bars matches the color scheme used in the summary profile graphs on the navigation maps for the site. In this scheme, the EGIDS levels are grouped as follows:
- Purple = Institutional (EGIDS 0-4) — The language has been developed to the point that it is used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
- Blue = Developing (EGIDS 5) — The language is in vigorous use, with literature in a standardized form being used by some though this is not yet widespread or sustainable.
- Green = Vigorous (EGIDS 6a) — The language is unstandardized and in vigorous use among all generations.
- Yellow = In trouble (EGIDS 6b-7) — Intergenerational transmission is in the process of being broken, but the child-bearing generation can still use the language so it is possible that revitalization efforts could restore transmission of the language in the home.
- Red = Dying (EGIDS 8a-9) — The only fluent users (if any) are older than child-bearing age, so it is too late to restore natural intergenerational transmission through the home; a mechanism outside the home would need to be developed.
- Black = Extinct (EGIDS 10) — The language has fallen completely out of use and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language.

Rwanda

Summary

Languages

Languages by Status

Maps

Northern Democratic Republic of Congo

Southern Democratic Republic of Congo

Graphs

Language Vitality Profile

Language Status Profile

Contributions

Editorial Action