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In addition to its many other attractions, Africa offers incredible linguistic diversity. Most African languages belong to one of the following four language families: Afro- Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo (with the Bantu languages as the major branch) and Khoisan.



Coverage of the 13 key African languages
Useful words and phrases to get you by in any part of the continent
Handy pronunciation guide throughout
Easy coloured-tab navigation

Coverage includes: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, French, Hausa, Malagasy, Portuguese, Shona, Swahili, Wolof and Xhosa.

Lonely Planet gets you to the heart of a place. Our job is to make amazing travel experiences happen. We visit the places we write about each and every edition. We never take freebies for positive coverage, so you can always rely on us to tell it like it is.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Wilna Liebenberg, Daniel Aboye Aberra, Harrison Adeniyi, Martin Benjamin, Derek Gowlett, Michael Janes, Russell Kaschula, Shalome Knoll, Robert Landon, Fiona McLaughlin, Vololona Rasolofoson, Chenjerai Shire, and Izabela Will.

About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in.

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