Afrikaans is spoken by approximately 7 million people as a first language and about 10 million as a second language. It is considered by many to be a semi-creole language and is remarkably close to Dutch

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Countries that speak Afrikaans:

• South Africa, where it is one of the country's eleven official languages

• Namibia, where Afrikaans is a recognized national language, though not official

Botswana

- Lesotho

• Malawi

• Swaziland

Zimbabwe

- Argentina, where the Patagonian dialect is spoken

• Australia

• United Kingdom

New Zealand