Mali is a country of many languages, with an estimated number of more than 80 tongues being spoken. The most widely spoken language is Bambara, but the working language for business, government, and education is French. This is a change from pre-2023, when French was the only official language of the country. In a move of national pride, Mali changed its constitution to declare 13 of its most spoken indigenous languages as official national languages and removed French.
Official Languages
Bambara
Bambara is the lingua franca of Mali, particularly in the central and southern regions. It is spoken by almost 80% of the country’s population, either as a first or second language. Bambara is a Manding language. It is very closely related to Djula, which is spoken by its neighbours to the south – Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast.
The N’ko script was developed specifically for Manding languages in 1949, though the languages themselves are significantly older – likely 5,000 years old! The script was invented with the careful consideration of the different tones in the language. It is written in a right-to-left direction, like Arabic. Fun fact, the first N’ko typewriter was developed in the 1950s and was a gift to Guinea (which would later become part of the Mali Federation) from the Soviet Union.
French
French lost its status as the official language of Mali in 2023 when the country changed its constitution, and it was demoted to a working language. It is still the language of business and government in Mali. Government websites are still often in French. School, especially higher education, is typically taught in French. However, only about 20% of the population speaks French, and it is a second language for most of those speakers. Around 6.4% of the population speaks French as a first language.
English
English is not widely spoken in Mali, so if you do not have basic French or Bambara skills, you will likely struggle to communicate without a translator or app. While there are an increasing number of Malians speaking English in business and private education, most of the people you will interact with as a tourist will have very limited English, if any at all.
