Languages of the country
DR Congo
Official language: French. National languages: Swahili, Luba-Lulua, Lingala, Kongo. Multilingualism according to CLDR (Greenberg index): 0.63 (multilingualism map). Population (CLDR): 115 million.
Map of regions
We have not described regional languages for this country yet – the map shows the whole country in the colour of its main language.
Languages and their status
Share: the estimated part of the population that uses the language (also as a second language), according to CLDR.
| Language | Status | Share |
|---|---|---|
| French français | Official | 51% |
|
Swahili
Kiswahili Legal basis: [1] |
National | 50% |
|
Luba-Lulua
Legal basis: [1] |
National | 9.6% |
|
Lingala
lingála Legal basis: [1] |
National | 3.1% |
|
Kongo
Kikongo The Constitution names “Kikongo” – in practice Kikongo ya leta (Kituba), not Kikongo proper, which is how CLDR labels this entry. Legal basis: [1] |
National | 1.5% |
| Luba-Katanga Tshiluba | Minority | 2.3% |
| Kinyarwanda | Minority | 0.4% |
Legal basis of the statuses
Statuses with a legal basis are our corrections to CLDR, based on the text of the constitution, the law or the official journal. Quotes are in the original language.
-
Constitution of the DR Congo (2006, amended 2011), art. 1 – Constitute Project, English translation
· act of 2006, text checked 2026-11-04
The national languages are Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba.
DR Congo on other Ominuvo maps
- World in NumbersPopulation: 113 million (2025)Source: World Bank – WDI: UN World Population Prospects (CC BY 4.0)
- Prices around the worldCongolese franc (CDF)Source: ISO 4217
- Time zones mapUTC+1 … UTC+2 · 2 time zonesSource: IANA tz database (public domain)
- Plugs and sockets of the worldType C, D, E · 220 V · 50 Hz
- National dishes of the world5 national dishes
- Plants of the world10 characteristic plants
- Volcano & earthquake map4 volcanoesSource: Smithsonian GVP (Smithsonian Terms of Use)
- VPN provider mapServers of 1 VPN providerSource: VPN Map (Ominuvo) (CC BY 4.0)