Writing systems of Africa

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The writing systems of Africa are the current and historical writing systems used on the African continent, both those which are indigenous and those which were introduced. In many African societies, history was traditionally recorded orally despite most societies having developed a writing script, leading to them being termed "oral cultures" in contrast to "literate cultures". However, this generalization misses the significant pre-modern use of written languages in various African cultures and the widespread modern adoption of written language on the continent. Today, the Latin script is commonly encountered across much of Africa, especially in the regions of Western Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. The Arabic script is mainly used in North Africa. Among the indigenous writing systems, the Ge'ez script is widely used in the Horn of Africa, and the Tifinagh script is used in many parts of the Sahel region. Variations of the Arabic-derived Ajami script are also notably used...

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