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The Swahili language or Kiswahili is a Bantu language which belongs to the Niger-Congo language family. Kiswahili was originally spoken along the East African Coast from the southern part of Somalia to the northern part of Mozambique. The expansion of Kiswahili to the interior was facilitated by the slave traders, merchants, missionaries, colonialists and politicians. Outside Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, Kiswahili is spoken in other countries in Africa, namely, Rwanda, Burundi, the Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Madagascar, South Africa. Outside the African Continent, Kiswahili is spoken in Oman, Comoro Islands and Djibouti. It has been adopted by the Africa Union as the official language of Africa.