Languages of Somalia

The official language of Somalia is Somali and remains the most widely spoken language in the country, with Northern Standard Somali as the most widely spoken dialect of the language, at around 60% of the population, followed by Maay Somali at 20% and Benadiri Somali at 18%.

Arabic is listed as the second language in the constitution and is used primarily in religious practice and education.

Somali is the official language of Somalia and as the mother tongue of the Somali people, is also its endoglossic language. It is a member of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family, and its nearest relatives are the Afar and Saho languages. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies of it dating from before 1900.

As of 2006, there were approximately 16.6 million speakers of Somali, of which about 8.3 million reside in Somalia. Of the five Somali federal states, all of them solely implement the Af-Maxaa-tiri dialect, except for the South West state, which officially uses it in combination with the Af-Maay-tiri, commonly known as Maay Maay. The Somali language is spoken by ethnic Somalis in Greater Somalia and the Somali diaspora. It is spoken as an adoptive language by a few ethnic minority groups in these regions.

Somali dialects are divided into three main groups: The erroneously named Northern dialect (also spoken in the south) and Benaadir are collectively known as Maxaa Tiri dialects. The third dialect spoken in Somalia is the Maay dialect (sometimes spelled Mai or Mai Mai). Northern Somali (or Maxaa Tiri Somali) forms the basis for Standard Somali. The similar Benaadir (also known as Coastal Somali) is spoken on the Benadir coast from Cadaley to south of Merca, including Mogadishu, as well as in the immediate hinterland. The coastal dialects have additional phonemes which do not exist in Standard Somali. Maay is principally spoken by the Digil and Mirifle (Rahanweyn) clans in South West.

Northern Somali (Maxaa Tiri) is the main Somali dialect spoken in the country, it is also the main Somali dialect of Djibouti.

The Somali language is regulated by the Regional Somali Language Academy, an intergovernmental institution established in June 2013 by the governments of Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia. It is officially mandated with preserving the Somali language.

The Somali Sign Language (SSL) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Somalia and Djibouti. It was originally developed by a Somali man educated in a Somali deaf school in Wajir, Kenya. In 1997, he established the first school for the deaf in the city of Borama, Somalia.