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Namibia, despite its scant population, is home to a wide diversity of languages, from multiple language families: Indo-European, Bantu, and the various Khoisan families. During apartheid, Afrikaans, German and English held the position of official language; however, after independence from South Africa, Namibia's new government made English the sole official language in the constitution of Namibia. German and Afrikaans were stigmatised as having colonial overtones, while the rising of Mandela's Youth League and the 1951 Defiance Campaign spread English among the masses as the language of the campaign against apartheid.
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Language demographics
The most widely spoken languages used in households are Oshiwambo dialects, by 48% of the population, the Khoekhoe language by 11%, Afrikaans by 11%, Kwangali language by 10% and Herero by 10%. Other native languages include the Bantu languages Tswana, Gciriku, Fwe, Kuhane, Mbukushu, Yeyi; and the Khoisan Naro, ǃXóõ, Kung-Ekoka, ǂKxʼauǁʼein and Kxoe. English, the official language, is spoken by less than 1% of people as their native language. Portuguese is spoken by 4–5% of the total population, i.e. 100,000 people, made up mostly of the Angolan community. Among the white population, 60% speak Afrikaans, 32% German, 7% English, and 1% Portuguese.
Indigenous languages are included in the school syllabus at primary level. From secondary level English is the medium of instruction. Afrikaans is the only language that comes close to a lingua franca, and is spoken by most black townspeople together with English and their native language.
Percentage distribution of households by main language spoken
Source: 2001 Census and 2011 Census