The
Saharan languages are a small family of languages spoken across parts of the eastern
Sahara, extending from northwestern
Darfur to southern
Libya, north and central
Chad, eastern
Niger and northeastern
Nigeria. Noted Saharan languages include
Kanuri (4 million speakers, around
Lake Chad in Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and
Cameroon),
Daza (330,000 speakers, Chad),
Teda (49,000 speakers, northern Chad), and
Zaghawa (170,000 speakers, eastern Chad and
Darfur). They are a part of the proposed
Nilo-Saharan family.