A branch of the
Niger-Kordofanian phylum, whose
languages are spoken by around 180 million people on the west coast of Africa and down through the southern part of the continent.
Niger-
Congo includes the
Bantu languages (
Swahili,
Shona,
Sotho,
Xhosa,
Zulu,
Tsonga, etc.), as well as languages such as
Wolof and
Mandinka.
source: A Guide to the World's Languages, Vol. 1: Classification, by Merritt Ruhlen