There are about 11 million isiXhosa speakers with 8ish million who use it at home (18% of the population of South Africa). One home speaker was Nelson Mandela. It is one of 11 official languages although English is the main common tool of commerce and government. There are 18 clicks demonstrating the influence of interaction with the San. An estimated 15% of the language comes from the first nation of South Africa. English & Afrikaans also traded words & flavour with isiXhosa. The people were at the forefront of the interaction with the Europeans, the San and the Khoikhoi. About 1000 words separate the language from the mutually intelligible isiZulu.
Areas where isiXhosa is spoken at home
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