[File:Africa ethnic groups 1996.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Map showing the traditional language families represented in Africa:     Niger-Congo:        Nilo-Saharan: ]] There are 1,250 to 2,100 and by some counts over 3,000 languages spoken natively in Africa, in several major language families:

• Afroasiatic is spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel
• Nilo-Saharan is centered on Sudan and Chad (disputed validity)
• Niger–Congo (Bantu and non-Bantu) covers West, Central, Southeast and Southern Africa
• Khoe is concentrated in the deserts of Namibia and Botswana
• Austronesian is spoken in Madagascar.
• Indo-European is spoken on the southern tip of the continent.