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Languages

Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

KinshasaLocal time

Languages, writing systems and language context

Congo-Kinshasa
COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE
français
French
Text direction: LTR

French is the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Constitution separately identifies Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba as national languages.

5
Core languages shown
Country-level reference set
French
First listed core language
Not a speaker-share estimate
1
Writing system represented
Across the core language set
LTR
Primary text direction
Additional directions noted below

Language Overview

FrenchKikongoLingalaSwahiliTshiluba

Read the Characters

French · 26 characters

French · 26 characters
A
a
B
b
C
c
D
d
E
e
F
f
G
g
H
h
I
i
J
j
K
k
L
l
M
m
N
n
O
o
P
p
Q
q
R
r
S
s
T
t
U
u
V
v
W
w
X
x
Y
y
Z
z

How to Read the Language Landscape

PolicyLegal and administrative language status may differ between national and subnational government.
Everyday useA language can be socially dominant without being the only language used at home, school, work or in media.
Community diversityIndigenous, minority, migrant and sign languages can remain important even when they are not part of a short national headline list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages are used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

French is the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Constitution separately identifies Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba as national languages.

What writing systems are used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

The represented writing system is Latin and the primary direction shown is left to right.

More about Democratic Republic of the Congo

Explore Democratic Republic of the Congo across the other DigifyWorld country-data sections.

Public HolidaysPublic holidays 2026 and 2027→Digital AdoptionInternet, payments and digital government→Population & DemographicsPopulation, age structure and projections→Economy SnapshotGDP, trade and economic structure→Currency & ExchangeCurrency, exchange rates and money→Human DevelopmentHDI and quality-of-life indicators→Geography & EnvironmentLand, climate and environment→Practical Country InfoTime, driving, electricity and codes→EducationSchool system and education data→

Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page
Presidency of the DRC: Constitution

Official constitutional source. Article 1 establishes French as the official language and Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba as national languages.

Unicode CLDR: Country/Region Names

Localized country display-name reference. CLDR names are customary UI/display names, not claims about a state’s full constitutional long-form name.

Unicode: Supported Scripts

Reference for the writing-system/script families represented in the character component.

Unicode: Writing Direction and Bidirectional Text

Reference for left-to-right and right-to-left script direction and bidirectional text behavior.

Unicode Character Database: NamesList

Reference for Unicode character names used as small readout labels under selected character samples; these labels are not presented as a complete transliteration standard.