Swahili, also known as
Kiswahili, is a
Bantu language and the
first language of the
Swahili people. It is a
lingua franca of the
African Great Lakes region and other parts of
Southeast Africa, including
Tanzania,
Kenya,
Uganda,
Rwanda,
Burundi,
Mozambique, and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The closely related
Comorian language, spoken in the
Comoros Islands, is sometimes considered a dialect.