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Languages

Languages of Nigeria

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Languages, writing systems and language context

Nigeria
COUNTRY LANGUAGE PROFILE
English
English
Text direction: LTR

English is the principal federal working language in Nigeria. Section 55 of the Constitution requires National Assembly business to be conducted in English and also permits Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements are made; Nigeria's wider language landscape is far more diverse.

1
Core language shown
Country-level reference set
English
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

English

Read the Characters

English · 26 characters

English · 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 Nigeria?

English is the principal federal working language in Nigeria. Section 55 of the Constitution requires National Assembly business to be conducted in English and also permits Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements are made; Nigeria's wider language landscape is far more diverse.

What writing systems are used in Nigeria?

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

More about Nigeria

Explore Nigeria across the other DigifyWorld country-data sections.

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Sources & methodology

View sources used for this page
Nigeria National Library repository: Constitution of 1999

Federal Government constitutional text. Section 55 requires National Assembly business to be conducted in English and allows Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements have been made.

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.