Afrikaans | ||||
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Pronunciation | [afriˈkɑːns] | |||
Native to | South Africa, Namibia | |||
Native speakers | 7.2 million (2016)e19 10.3 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002) | |||
Language family | ||||
Writing system | ||||
Official status | ||||
Official language in | South Africa | |||
Recognised minority language in | Namibia | |||
Regulated by | Die Taalkommissie | |||
Language codes | ||||
ISO 639-1 | af | |||
ISO 639-2 | afr | |||
ISO 639-3 | afr | |||
Linguasphere | 52-ACB-ba | |||
Regions shaded dark blue represent areas of concentrated Afrikaans-speaking communities | ||||
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Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. It was originally the dialect that developed among the Afrikaner Protestant settlers, the unfree workers, and slaves brought to the Cape area in southwestern South Africa by the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - VOC) between 1652 and 1705. Most of these first settlers were from the Netherlands, though there were also many from Germany, some from France, a few from Scotland, and various other countries. The unfree workers and slaves were Malays, and Malagasy in addition to the native Khoi and Bushmen.