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Oromo is a Cushitic language spoken primarily in Ethiopia and Kenya, making it one of the major languages in the region. It matters because millions of people speak it as their first language, and it represents an important part of the cultural and linguistic diversity of East Africa.
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Oromo is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia and northeastern Kenya. It is officially written in the Latin script, although traditional scripts are also informally used.
With more than 41.7 million speakers making up 33.8% of the total Ethiopian population, Oromo has the largest number of native speakers in Ethiopia and ranks as the second most widely spoken language in Ethiopia by total number of speakers (including second-language speakers), following Amharic. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by an additional half-million people in parts of northern and eastern Kenya. It is also spoken by smaller numbers of emigrants in other African countries such as South Africa, Libya, Egypt and Sudan. Oromo is the most widely spoken Cushitic language and among the five languages of Africa with the largest mother-tongue populations.