Native speakers are estimated to be 15 million.
Somali is spoken by Somalis in Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, and by the Somali diaspora. Somali is the second most widely spoken Cushitic language after Oromo.
Constitutionally, Somali and Arabic are the two official languages of Somalia.[13] Somali has been an official national language since January 1973, when the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) declared it the Somali Democratic Republic's primary language of administration and education.