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Genetik/Peoples/Somalis

Somalis

Сомалийцы · Q241696

language area per Glottologcensus counts
4,586,876
Ethiopia, census 2007 (national and/or ethnic group, UN)
6,972,448
sum of censuses in 2 countries, 2007-2009
Afro-Asiatic
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Ethiopia: 4,586,876 people in the 2007 census.

Official figures exist for 2 countries; together they add up to 6,972,448. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2007-2009) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

Main language: Somali. Glottolog classifies it in the Afro-Asiatic family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Ethiopia2007 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Somalie» · [1]
4,586,876
Kenya2009 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Kenyan Somali» · [2]
2,385,572
Sum across 2 countries6,972,448

Languages and their lineage

Somali

  1. Afro-Asiaticafro1255
  2. Cushiticcush1243
  3. East Cushiticeast2699
  4. Lowland East Cushiticlowl1267
  5. Southern Lowland East Cushiticsout3055
  6. Mainstream Lowland East Cushiticmain1283
  7. Omo-Tanaomot1245
  8. Eastern Omo-Tanaeast2653
  9. Somalisoma1255

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

EgyptiansMoroccansOromoAmharaSaudisJordaniansHausaLibyansTigray peopleOmanisGurage peoplePalestiniansAfar peopleTuareg AmazighsEmiratisBahrainisQatarisJewish peopleArabsIraqisAssyriansLebaneseAlgeriansMauritanians

Sources

  1. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ethiopia, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kenya, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)