Spoken originally along the eastern coast of Africa(the name kiSwahili means \'coastal language\'), and now the official language of Tanzania as well as a major language in Kenya, Uganda and the eastern Congo, Swahili is the lingua franca of Eastern Africa.
It has also incorporated German, Portuguese, English, Hindustani and French words into its voca.
A significant fraction of Swahili vocabulary is derived from Arabic through contact with Arabic-speaking Muslim inhabitants of the Swahili Coast.
Spoken originally along the eastern coast of Africa(the name kiSwahili means \'coastal language\'), and now the official language of Tanzania as well as a major language in Kenya, Uganda and the eastern Congo, Swahili is the lingua franca of Eastern Africa
