Somali, which belongs to the East Cushitic branch of Cushitic, is spoken in the Somalia, the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, eastern and northeastern Kenya, and southern Djibouti.
Grimes (1996) gives a figure of 8,335,000 speakers of Somali; World Almanac (1998) notes 5 million. Heine (1980) notes 185,000 Somali speakers in Kenya.
Somali is the national language of Somalia, where it is used in the schools, government, and daily commerce. There is a Somali daily newspaper in Mogadishu, Xiddigta Oktoobar. Somali is heard on Voice of Kenya radio, Radio Diffusion - Television de Djibouti, the Voice of Revolutionary Ethiopia, the BBC, and Radio Moscow, all using Common Somali.
A Romanized orthography for Somali was adopted as the only official one in 1972, replacing a variety of older orthographies.
One set of learning materials is sufficient for Somali.
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