![Assembleia Nacional da Guiné-Bissau](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Assembleia_Nacional_da_Guin%C3%A9-Bissau.jpg)
The
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
of
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
is
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, which is spoken by 11%
of the population. The local dialect is called
Crioulo
The Portuguese word ''crioulo'' (''crioula'', ''crioulos'', ''crioulas'') may refer to:
* In Brazil, a person of African ancestry
* A creole language, especially one of the Portuguese-based creole languages
* Criollo horse, also known as a criou ...
or Kiriol.
French is also learned in schools, as Guinea-Bissau is surrounded by French-speaking countries and is a full member of the
Francophonie
Francophonie is the quality of speaking French. The term designates the ensemble of people, organisations and governments that share the use of French on a daily basis and as administrative language, teaching language or chosen language. The ...
as well as the
Lusophone CPLP.
Native languages
Guinea-Bissau Creole
Guinea-Bissau Creole, also known as Kiriol or Crioulo, is a creole language whose lexicon derives mostly from Portuguese. It is spoken in Guinea Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia. It is also called by its native speakers as , , or .
Guinea-Bissau ...
is spoken by 69% of the population.
Native languages include
Balanta,
Fula
Fula may refer to:
*Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe)
*Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani)
**The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language
**The Fula variety known as the Pular language
**The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde
*Al-Fula ...
,
Mandjak,
Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to:
Media
* ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957
* ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel
* ''Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Kir ...
,
Jola, and
Papel.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Ethnologue.com report on languages of Guinea-BissauPanAfriL10n page on Guinea-Bissau
{{Africa in topic, Languages of