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Venda language

Venda (')
Spoken in:	South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Region:	Northern Transvaal
Total speakers:	750,000
Ranking:	See Not in top 100
Genetic classification:	Niger-Congo  Atlantic-Congo   Volta-Congo    Benue-Congo     Bantoid      South Africa
Regulated by:	-
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ven
SIL	VEN

Venda, also known as Tshivenda or Chivenda, is a Bantu language. The majority of Venda speakers live in South Africa (where Venda is an official language), but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe. Before South Africa became a democratic country, the bantustan of Venda was set up to cover the Venda speakers of South Africa.

Classification

Venda belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo languages.

Geographic distribution

Venda is spoken by about 666,000 people in the northern part of South Africa's Transvaal province, as well as 84,000 people in Zimbabwe.

Official status

Venda is an official language in South Africa.