South Africa has 11 official languages and a multilingual population fluent in at least two languages. The official languages of South Africa, in order of the number of speakers, are Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, Sesotho, Tsonga, Swati, Tshivenḓa, and Ndebele. IsiZulu and isiXhosa are the largest languages, while English is spoken at home by only one in 10 people. Afrikaans is spoken by almost two-thirds of whites and more than three-quarters of coloured South Africans. According to the most recent census in 2011, the most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans is Zulu (23%), followed by Xhosa (16%), and Afrikaans (14%) . English is the fourth most common first language in the country (9.6%), but it is understood in most urban areas and is the dominant language in government and the media. Most South Africans can speak more than one language, and there is often a diglossia between the official and unofficial language forms for speakers of the latter.
In summary, South Africa has 11 official languages, with Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans being the most widely spoken. English is the language of official business and commerce, but it is spoken at home by only a minority of South Africans.
