What does AFR mean in LANGUAGE CODES (3 LETTERS)

Afrikaans is primarily spoken in South Africa, and to a lesser extent in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is also spoken by many people scattered throughout Europe, Australia and other regions where emigrants from these African countries have settled.

Afrikaans is estimated to be spoken by around 6 million people worldwide. Of those who speak it as a first language, 4.3 million live in South Africa.

Yes, Afrikaans initially developed from 17th century Dutch dialects used by settlers in South Africa. While it has evolved independently since then, it still maintains strong ties to Dutch grammar and vocabulary. Additionally, both languages are mutually intelligible to some extent.

Although it has roots firmly planted in Dutch, certain words in the Afrikaans vocabulary have been borrowed from Malay-Portuguese Creole (which came about due to the Malaysian slave trade) as well as some African languages such as Khoisan and Bantu languages like Xhosa and Zulu (which are all indigenous to Southern Africa).

There are several authors who write exclusively in Afrikaans such as Antjie Krog, Etienne van Heerden, Ingrid Winterbach and André P Brink. Many of their works have been translated into various languages such as English, French, Spanish and German so they can be enjoyed by a wider audience.