The Kiswahili Language
Kiswahili (or Swahili) is basically of Bantu (African) origin with words borrowed from other languages such as Arabic. The Christian missionaries of the 19th century learnt Kiswahili as the language of communication to spread the Gospel in Eastern Africa. They helped to spread the language and as a matter of fact, the first Swahili-English dictionary was prepared by a missionary.
See more resources at www.glcom.com for history and culture of Kiswahili.
Kiswahili is spoken in many countries of Eastern Africa. Tanzania's special relations with countries of southern Africa helped spread Kiswahili to Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, and other neighboring countries to the south. Swahili is the national as well as the official language in Tanzania - almost all Tanzanians speak Swahili proficiently and are unified by it. In Kenya, it is the national language, but official correspondence is still conducted in English. In Uganda, the national language is English but Swahili enjoys a large number of speakers especially in the military.
Kiswahili is one of the languages that feature in some world radio stations such as, the BBC, Radio Cairo (Egypt), the Voice of America (U.S.A.), Radio Deutschewelle (Germany), Radio Moscow International (Russia), Radio Japan International, Radio China International, Radio Sudan, and Radio South Africa. Kiswahili is also making its presence in the art world - in songs, theatres, movies and television programs. The well-celebrated Disney movie, "The Lion King" features several Swahili words, for example "simba" (lion), "rafiki" (friend), as the names of the characters. The Swahili phrase "hakuna matata" (No troubles or no problems) was also used in that movie.