What is Afrikaans?
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and people enslaved by them.
How Many Afrikaans Speakers In South Africa
About 13.5% of the South African population (7 million people) speak Afrikaans as a first language, making it the third most common natively-spoken language in the country, after Zulu and Xhosa.
How many white Afrikaans speakers are there in South Africa?
The 6,855,082 South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language make up 13.5% of the country’s total population. More than half (50.2%) of these Afrikaans speakers are colored, 39.5% white, 8.8% black, 0.9% Indian or Asian, and 0.6% other.
Is Afrikaans still used in South Africa?
Along with English, it is one of two Indo-European languages included in the 11 languages officially recognized by the South African government. Although there exists a stark racial divide among speakers, about 7 million people (14 percent of the population, largely comprised of white people) speak Afrikaans natively.
Can everyone in South Africa speak Afrikaans?
About 13.5% of the South African population (7 million people) speak Afrikaans as a first language, making it the third most common natively-spoken language in the country, after Zulu and Xhosa.