Languages of Burkina Faso

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Burkina Faso is a very multilingual country. About 70 languages are spoken there, with roughly 66 being Indigenous.

The big languages you’ll hear
- Mooré: The most widely spoken language and a common everyday language in the central region around the capital, Ouagadougou. It acts as a lingua franca for many people.
- Dyula (Jula/Dioula) and other Mande languages: Common in the west, with Dyula also serving as a major trading language.
- Fula (Fulani): Widely spoken, especially in the north, and used as a lingua franca in many parts of the country.
- Gourmantché: Important in the east.
- Bissa: Spoken in the south.
- Other notable languages include Bwamu, Dagara, Samo and more. Many of these belong to the Mande or Gur language families.

Official status and education
- The official languages have changed over time. Mooré, Dyula and Fula have been official; French has served as a semi-official or working language and is the language used in schools.
- In 2023–2024, Burkina Faso revised its constitution to make Indigenous languages official while French became a working language. Even so, French remains the principal language of instruction in many schools.
- Today, fewer than 15% of the population uses French daily, but French remains important for education and social mobility.

Francophone and language use
- In 2024, about 22.8% of the population—roughly 5.38 million people—were Francophones. Of these, about 302,000 spoke French as their first language, while about 5.06 million used French as a second language.
- In daily life, people in rural areas usually speak their native language at home, while people in cities are often multilingual.

Sign languages
- Education for the deaf uses American Sign Language, introduced by American missionary Andrew Foster.
- Burkina Sign Language is used in Ouagadougou.

Name origins
- The country’s name comes from two official languages: Burkina from Mooré meaning “man of integrity” and Faso from Dioula meaning “father’s house.”

Endangered languages and diversity
- Some languages are endangered as younger generations adopt more widely used ones. Overall, Burkina Faso’s linguistic landscape is deeply diverse, reflecting its many communities and regions.