Lingala developed as a trade language along the Congo River in the nineteenth century and has grown into one of Central Africa's major tongues. It is a Bantu language, tonal like its relatives, and holds national-language status in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, with speakers also found in Angola and the Central African Republic. It dominates everyday life in Kinshasa and Brazzaville and is the working language of the Congolese army. Estimates of total speakers vary widely, from around 20 million to considerably more, because so many people use it as a second language. Congolese popular music, from rumba to soukous, is sung mainly in Lingala and has carried the language across Africa. It is written in the Latin alphabet.
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