Editing Sotho language (section)

==Geographic distribution==
[[File:South Africa Sotho speakers proportion map.svg|thumb|Geographical distribution of Sotho in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Sotho at home.
{{legend-col
|{{legend|#EDF8E9|0–20%}}
|{{legend|#BAE4B3|20–40%}}
|{{legend|#74C476|40–60%}}
|{{legend|#31A354|60–80%}}
|{{legend|#006D2C|80–100%}}
}}]]
[[File:South Africa Sotho speakers density map.svg|thumb|Geographical distribution of Sotho in South Africa: density of Sotho home-language speakers.
{{legend-col
|{{legend|#ffffcc|&lt;1 /km²}}
|{{legend|#ffeda0|1–3 /km²}}
|{{legend|#fed976|3–10 /km²}}
|{{legend|#feb24c|10–30 /km²}}
|{{legend|#fd8d3c|30–100 /km²}}
|{{legend|#fc4e2a|100–300 /km²}}
|{{legend|#e31a1c|300–1000 /km²}}
|{{legend|#bc0026|1000–3000 /km²}}
|{{legend|#800026|&gt;3000 /km²}}
}}]]
According to the [[South African National Census of 2011]], there were almost four million first language Sesotho speakers recorded in South Africa – approximately eight per cent of the population. Most Sesotho speakers in South Africa reside in [[Free State (province)|Free State]] and [[Gauteng]]. Sesotho is also the main language spoken by the people of [[Lesotho]], where, according to 1993 data, it was spoken by about 1,493,000 people, or 85% of the population. The census fails to record other South Africans for whom Sesotho is a second or third language. Such speakers are found in all major residential areas of [[Metropolitan municipality (South Africa)|Metropolitan Municipalities]] – such as [[Johannesburg]], and the [[Vaal Triangle]] – where multilingualism and polylectalism are very high.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

===Official status===
Sesotho is one of the twelve [[official languages of South Africa]], one of the two official [[languages of Lesotho]] and one of the sixteen official [[languages of Zimbabwe]].