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Index / Languages
  Algeria /
Languages
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Languages
Figures in 1000. |
Arabic
|
26,000 |
79.0% |
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Algerian
|
25,900 |
78.5% |
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Saharan Algerian
|
120 |
0.4% |
Berber
|
6,900 |
21.0% |
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Kabyle
|
5,000 |
15.0% |
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Tachawit
|
1,700 |
5.0% |
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Tumzabt
|
90 |
0.3% |
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Taznatit
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50 |
0.2% |
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Tamahaq
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30 |
0.1% |
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Tamazight
|
20 |
0.1% |
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Tagargrent
|
7 |
<0.1% |
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Chenoua
|
6 |
<0.1% |
Korandje
|
8 |
<0.1% |
French
|
110 |
0.3% |
1 ) A large part are refugees from Western Sahara.
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There are two major languages of Algeria, Arabic and Berber. Berber is generally spoken in mountainous areas, a reflection of centuries of tension, warfare and suppression in which the Arabs so far has come out of as victors.
Arabic, in its Algerian version, is spoken by about 4 of 5 Algerians. Berber is spoken by 1 of 5.
Kabyle is spoken by between 1.5 and 6 million, depending on who gives the estimates, living in the mountainous north of the country.
Tachawit or Chaouia spoken in the regions south and southeast of the Grand Kabylia, especially in the Aurès Mountains.
Tumzabt belongs to the M'zab oasis (Ghardaïa is the main city).
Taznatit is spoken by peoples living in the region of the oasis of Timimoun.
Tamahaq is the language of Tamanrasset, the largest town of the south.
Tagargrent is spoken in an oasis in the middle-eastern part of the country.
Chenoua spoken by about 50,000 in certain towns in the northwest of the country.
In Algeria there are two variants of Tamazight, both named after the villages they belong to. Temacine is near Touggourt, Tidikelt near In-Salah, about 800 km apart. Tamazight is spoken by 3.5 million in Morocco, making this Algerian minority one of the very largest Berber speaking groups.
In the oasis of Tabelbela in Western Algeria, Korandje is spoken. Korandje is not a Berber language, being of the Songhai family, which originates from countries south of Sahara.
French is still spoken by more than 100,000 people.
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