This African country has the most official languages in the world

Most countries have one or two official national languages, while a few including the United States and Mexico have none.

Zimbabwe with a population of 16.15 million, however, has 16 – a number that beat all countries in the world. And it is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the only country in the world to accomplish that feat.

Official languages have special legal status, and are the languages used within government. For multilingual nations particularly, it can be important to designate official languages at national level.

Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa are all listed in the Zimbabwean constitution as recognized dialects. Nonetheless, Shona, Ndebele and English are mostly spoken throughout the country.

Over the period, there have been concerns raised by citizens as a result of the neglect of some of the marginal languages.

In 2016, Vice President Nelson Chamisa made a general call to all citizens to appreciate their languages, “Zimbabweans must be proud of their languages and, as such, parliament must ensure there was translation.”

On his part as speaker of parliament Jacob Mudenda said, “we want to put electronic systems that will have automatic translation so that if someone speaks in Venda, the minister can switch on to English and understand the question and when he replies, the person who has asked the question will switch on to Venda to get the reply.”

Currently, initiatives are in process of being formulated – including ensuring that local radio and television stations were inclusive of the country’s official languages.