Languages of Djibouti

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Languages of Djibouti
Djibouti airport.jpg
Bilingual sign in French and Arabic at the Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport.
Official languages French, Arabic
Indigenous languages Somali, Afar, Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic
Common keyboard layouts

The languages of Djibouti include Arabic and French (official), and Somali and Afar (primary). Modified versions of the Latin script as well as Arabic are the main orthographies.


Djibouti is a multilingual country. According to Ethnologue, the majority of the population speaks Somali (297,200 speakers) or Afar (99,200 speakers) as a first language, which are the mother tongues of the Somali and Afar ethnic groups, respectively. Both languages belong to the larger Afro-Asiatic family.[1]



Additionally, the Somali deaf community in Djibouti uses the Somali Sign Language.[2]


Writing system[edit]

Nationally, the Latin script is the most widely used orthography for all languages. The Somali alphabet, a modified form of the script, is used to write Somali.[4] In the early 1970s, two Afar intellectuals and nationalists, Dimis and Redo, formalized a similar Afar alphabet. Known as Qafar Feera, the orthography is also based on the Latin script.[5]

Additionally, Somali and Afar are transcribed using the Arabic script.[4][6]


  1. ^ a b c "Djibouti". Ethnologue. Retrieved 31 August 2013. 
  2. ^ Woodford, Doreen E. "The beginning and growth of a new language - Somali Sign Language". Enabling Education Network. Retrieved 30 August 2013. 
  4. ^ a b "Omniglot - Somali writing scripts". Omniglot. Retrieved 8 May 2013. 
  5. ^ "Afar (ʿAfár af)". Omniglot. Retrieved 23 August 2013. 
  6. ^ "Development of the Afar Language". Afar Friends. Retrieved 23 August 2013.