Why does Africa have so many more languages than any other continent?

Africa is considered to be the most linguistically diverse continent on the planet, with estimates putting the number of languages spoken at as many as 3,000. Many of the languages spoken there fall under six main language families (Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Niger–Congo, Khoe, Austronesian and Indo-European), based largely around geographic regions. However, there are also languages from smaller families, language isolates, which have no clear relationship with any other languages, sign language isolates and languages that as yet remain unclassified. The influence of European languages on Africa is a reason behind the continent’s vast linguistic diversity. European imperialists had their sights firmly set on Africa towards the end of the 19th century. Some were more subtle than others in their attempts at colonisation, applying diplomatic pressure to get their own way. Others used their imperialist might to push into Africa with military invasions. Resistance was often fierce, but ultimately only Ethiopia and Liberia were able to resist the advances of European colonial powers. Europe’s advancement into Africa was based largely on economic factors (the Industrial Revolution in particular created the need to secure sources of raw materials and flow them into Europe), but its impact spread to culture and language across the continent. Colonies of settlers, like the Portuguese in Angola, the French in Algeria and the English in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda enforced the spread of their languages and created a linguistic melting pot. While resistance to colonial rule often involved a refusal to assimilate linguistically, the presence of European languages in Africa could not be avoided. In many instances, these European tongues were taken and localized, being converted into local dialects. In South Africa, for example, Roger Lass (2002) identified three distinct versions of South African English: the ‘cultivated’ English used by the upper class, the ‘general’ English used by the middle class and the ‘broad’ English used by the working class. The latter was also closely approximated to Afrikaans English, again showing how European languages became entwined in complex ways with local languages and dialects. It is this blending of history, economics and politics that is behind the linguistic diversity seen in modern-day Africa. While many of the events that led to the creation of such diversity – invasion, colonisation and the plundering of natural resources – are now viewed in a negative light, they have at least on a linguistic level contributed to the creation of the most fascinating continent on Earth.