Kirundi language Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
| Kirundi | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Burundi |
| Region: | Central Africa |
| Total speakers: | 4.6 million |
| Ranking: | not in top 100 |
| Genetic classification: | Niger-Congo Atlantic-Congo Volta-Congo Benue-Congo Bantoid Southern Narrow Bantu Central Kirundi |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | Burundi |
| Regulated by: | valign=top |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | rn |
| ISO 639-2 | run |
| SIL | RUD |
Kirundi (also written Rundi) is a Bantu language (D62 in Guthrie's classification) spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa, as well as in Uganda. 85% of the speakers are Hutu, 15% are Tutsi.
Kirundi is closely related to Kinyarwanda, the main language of neighbouring country Rwanda and to Giha, a language spoken in western Tanzania.
The inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi belong to three different ethnic groups: Bahutu, Batutsi, and Batwa (a pygmy people). The fact that these ethnic groups share the same language is assumed to be the result of the Bahutu outnumbering the latter two groups (see Bahutu for a more complete historical perspective).Introduction