{{Short description|New United Nations Swahili Language Day}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox holiday | holiday_name = World Kiswahili Language Day<br>''{{lang|sw|Siku ya Kiswahili ya Umoja wa Mataifa}}'' | type = international | longtype = | image = | caption = | official_name = | nickname = | observedby = | duration = 1 day | frequency = annual | scheduling = same day each year | date = 7 July | celebrations = | observances = | relatedto = International Mother Language Day,<br />UN Arabic Language Day, <br>UN Chinese Language Day, <br>UN English Language Day, <br>UN French Language Day, <br>UN Portuguese Language Day, <br>UN Russian Language Day, <br>UN Spanish Language Day | firsttime = {{start date and age|2022|7|df=yes}} }} '''World Kiswahili Language Day''' ({{Langx|sw|Siku ya Kiswahili ya Umoja wa Mataifa}} ''duniani'') is observed annually on 7 July.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Kiswahili Language Day |url=https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730061449/https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |archive-date=30 July 2022 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=unesco.org |language=en}} [https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2022/kiswahili-language-speaks-both-past-and-present Alt URL]</ref> This began when UNESCO declared 7 July as Kiswahili Language Day in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2022/kiswahili-language-speaks-both-past-and-present |title=Kiswahili is a language that speaks to both past and present|date=6 July 2022 |accessdate=2022-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World Kiswahili Language Day |date=10 July 2023 |url=https://unesco.go.ke/world-kiswahili-language-day/ |publisher=Kenya National Commission for UNESCO}}</ref> On 7 July 1954, Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) leader Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the future first president of Tanzania, adopted the Swahili language as a unifying language for African independence struggles. Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, followed suit and also used the Swahili language to mobilize and unify the people of Kenya in the struggle against colonialism through the use of the popular "Harambee" slogan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uonbi.ac.ke/news/un-declares-july-7-world-kiswahili-language-day |title=UNESCO declares July 7 World Kiswahili Language Day |accessdate=2022-08-09}}</ref>
World Kiswahili Language Day marks the first United Nations designation of an African-originated language for a {{section link|Official languages of the United Nations|Language Days at the UN}}, the other language days were from the six (6) official languages of the United Nations which are Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.<ref>{{cite web |title=Union Nation Official Languages |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages |access-date=9 May 2018 |archive-date=18 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518162859/http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Swahili language is in the Niger-Congo language group and originated as a trade language amongst the people of the eastern African coast and the northern coast of Madagascar. Sixteen to twenty percent of the Swahili vocabulary are Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language ({{Lang|ar|سَوَاحِلي}}, sawāḥilī, a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coast'). The loanwords date from contact with Arabic-speaking traders with the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa from the 1500s to European colonization.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language|title=Swahili language|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=30 January 2021|archive-date=23 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723004044/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language|url-status=live}}</ref> Swahili is currently a prominent language spoken in a variety of locations along the African Great Lakes Region and is spoken by upwards of 200 million people as a second language. <ref>{{cite news |title=Swahili's bid to become a language for all of Africa |work=BBC News |date=17 February 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60333796 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518162859/http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages/ |archive-date=18 May 2018 |access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref> == Swahili Poets== * Shaaban Robert * Christopher Mwashinga * Mathias Mnyampala == See also == * International Mother Language Day * International observance * Official languages of the United Nations * {{section link|African Union|Languages}} * East African Community * Southern African Development Community * Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa * Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa * African Great Lakes Region
{{Portal|Language|Politics}} * List of official languages * List of official languages by institution * List of languages by number of native speakers
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:July observances Category:United Nations language days Category:Swahili language Category:Recurring events established in 2022 Category:History of the United Nations United Nations Category:United Nations Category:United Nations mass media Category:Official languages Category:Language policy in the United Nations
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