Languages of Rwanda

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{{Infobox country languages

|country = Rwanda

|image =Please Do Not Step or Sit on Graves - Genocide Memorial Center - Kigali - Rwanda.jpg

|image size =

|caption =Sign in Kinyarwanda and English in Kigali

|official = Kinyarwanda, English, French, Swahili

|semi-official =

|national =

|unofficial =

|main =

|indigenous =

|regional =

|vernacular = Kinyarwanda

|minority = Mashi

|immigrant =

|foreign = English, African French

|sign = Rwandan Sign Language

| keyboard = QWERTY

| keyboard image = 200px

|source =

}}

File:AIDS Kills sign in Rwanda.jpeg campaign poster in English, Rwanda]]

Kinyarwanda is the national language of Rwanda,[http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/afrique/rwanda.htm LECLERC, Jacques. «Rwanda» dans L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Québec, CEFAN, Université Laval, 24 Dec. 2015] (accessed 29 August 2016) and the first language of almost the entire population of the country. It is one of the country's official languages alongside French,{{cite web|title=Rwanda: MPs Approve Law Making Kiswahili Official Language|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201702090060.html|website=All Africa|publisher=All Africa|access-date=15 June 2017}} English,{{Cite web |title=English To Become Official Language In Rwanda |url=https://www.npr.org/2008/11/20/97245421/english-to-become-official-language-in-rwanda |access-date=2023-07-10}} and Swahili.{{Cite web|url=http://pulse.ng/arts_culture/in-rwanda-kiswahili-adopted-as-rwandas-fourth-official-language-id6203026.html|title = Kiswahili adopted as Rwanda's fourth official language|date = 10 February 2017}}

French had been the language of administration from the country's time under Belgian administration, between the World War I and independence in 1962. Since the 1994 genocide, the complications of relations with successive French governments and the return of numerous Tutsi refugees from anglophone Uganda meant an increase in the use of English by a higher proportion of the population and administration.

In 2008, the government changed the medium of education from French to English.{{Cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/rwanda|title=Rwanda|date=15 August 2013}} By 2018 the Rwandan government had introduced French as a foreign language class at the primary school level, and French was still widely used by members of the upper classes. A Rwandan historian, Antoine Mugesera, stated that French is still used among the educated, but Kinyarwanda is used for matters relating to simple topics and messages.{{cite web|url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/World/Rwanda-French-language-Belgium-Tutsi-refugees-Paul-Kagame/688340-4706228-6ykbfv/index.html|title=Rwanda reconsiders role of snubbed French language|publisher=Agence France Presse at the Daily Monitor|date=2018-08-10|access-date=2018-11-11}} English is now considered as the primary language among other foreign languages.

Swahili is used by some people, in commerce, and is taught as a subject in schools.[http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/afrique/rwanda.htm "Aménagement linguistique," Rwanda]

French was spoken by a bit under 6% of the population according to the 2012 census and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.[https://observatoire.francophonie.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Rapport-La-langue-francaise-dans-le-monde_VF-2022.pdf La langue française dans le monde] (2022)

English was reported to be spoken by 15% of the population in 2009, though the same report found the proportion of French-speakers to be 68%.[https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Euromonitor%20Report%20A4.pdf The Benefits of the English Language for Individuals and Societies: Quantitative Indicators from Cameroon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Pakistan]

Swahili is spoken by fewer than 1%.[https://www.ethnologue.com/country/RW/languages Ethnologue report for Rwanda]

Inhabitants of Rwanda's Nkombo Island speak Mashi, a language closely related to Kinyarwanda.{{cite news |last=Nakayima |first=Lillian |date=23 June 2010 |title=Nkombo Island's Hope for the Future |work=The New Times |location=Kigali |url=http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2010-06-11/20795/ |access-date=16 November 2015 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010200718/http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2010-06-11/20795/ |url-status=live}}