English is the official language in three of the Limpopo river basin countries - Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Mozambique, Portuguese is the official language, although English is taught in secondary schools. Thirteen other national languages (Emakhuwa, Xitsonga, Ciyao, Cisena, Cishona, Echuwabo, Cinyanja, Xironga, Shimaconde, Cinyungue, Cicopi, Bitonga, Kiswahili) are spoken.

In South Africa, the Constitution provides for 11 official languages, namely English, Afrikaans, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga.

Zimbabwe has three main languages (English, Shona and Ndebele), and Botswana has two. Setswana is the national language with minor differences in dialects, while English is the official business language.

Boundaries	Ethnic Groups
Botswana - Zimbabwe	Va-Kalanga, Ba- Birwa
Botswana - South Africa	Ba-Tswana
Mozambique - South Africa	Xitsonga (Xichangana), Swazi
Mozambique - Zimbabwe	Barwe, Ndau, Manyika, Shangaan
South Africa - Zimbabwe	Shangaan, Venda

Well-known transboundary ethnic groups in the Limpopo River Basin