Kikuyu (technically, Gikuyu) (Guthrie E51) belongs to the Kamba-Kikuyu subgroup of Bantu and is spoken in an area extending from Nairobi to the southern and southwestern slopes of Mt. Kenya, in Kenya.
Grimes (1996) cites a figure of 5,347,000 Kikuyu speakers while World Almanac (1998) estimates 6 million. The 1979 Kenya census gives 3,202,821 Kikuyu (by tribal/national affiliation). Voegelin and Voegelin (1977) list 1,028,000 speakers. Alexandre (1981) estimates 2,250,000 speakers for the whole Kikuyu-Kamba (E50) group.
Kikuyu is an important regional language. It is broadcast on the Voice of Kenya.
A standard orthography exists.
One set of materials is sufficient.
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