Which is Mali''s official language?

Mali is a multilingual country. The languages spoken there reflect ancient settlement patterns, migrations, and its long history. Ethnologue counts more than 80 languages. Of these, French is the official language and Bambara is the most widely spoken.

All together 13 of the indigenous languages of Mali have the legal status of national language. There are: Bambara, Bomu, Bozo, Dogon, Fulfulde, Hassaniya Arabic, Mamara, Maninkakan, Soninke, Songhay, Syenara, Tamasheq and Xaasongaxango.

French, which introduced during the colonial period, was retained as the official language at independence and is used in government and formal education. Estimates of the number of people who actually speak French are low. Figures estimated in 1986 give a number of 386,000 speakers of French in Mali, derived from the numbers of school attendees. This would mean roughly 21% of the population speak French, by 1986 figures, a number considerably lower than those who speak Bambara.

Bambara a Manding language (in the Mande family) is said to be spoken by 80% of the population as a first or second language. It is used as a trade language in Mali between language groups.