Hausa
Hausa
Hausa is the major trade language across West Africa and the Sahel, with BBC and Voice of America both broadcasting in Hausa to reach 70+ million listeners!
Lin says:
Sannu! I'm Lin! Hausa is a major trade language across the Sahel and West Africa — spoken from Nigeria to Ghana, Niger to Sudan! Hausa culture is famous for its beautiful crafts: leather-work, woven fabrics, and the incredible ancient walled city of Kano — one of Africa's oldest cities. Hausa cinema (Kannywood) is a thriving film industry. Nagode! (Thank you!)
Quick Facts
Speakers
~70 million
Language Family
Afro-Asiatic (Chadic)
Region
West Africa & Sahel
Media
BBC, VOA broadcast in Hausa
Discover Hausa
Hausa is the major trade language across West Africa and the Sahel, with BBC and Voice of America both broadcasting in Hausa to reach 70+ million listeners!
Native Speakers
~70 million
Did You Know?
BBC Hausa — one of the BBC's oldest African language services — has broadcast news in Hausa since 1957, reaching over 90 million listeners across West Africa.
Hausa was historically written in an Arabic-based script called Ajami — and today also uses the Latin alphabet introduced during the colonial period.
Hausa poetry (waka) is a cherished art form — sung performances at weddings and festivals using complex rhythms and praise-poetry are central to Hausa social life.
What Makes Hausa Special?
Ancient Kano
Kano — the heartland of Hausa culture — is one of Africa's oldest cities, continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years, with ancient adobe city walls still standing.
Kannywood
Kannywood is Nigeria's Hausa-language film industry, based in Kano — producing hundreds of films per year with a unique local aesthetic inspired by Bollywood.
Sahel Trade Language
Hausa developed as the key trade language across the Sahel — merchants used it from Lake Chad to the Atlantic Coast, linking diverse communities.
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