The
Bantu languages , technically the
Narrow Bantu languages, constitute a traditional branch of the
Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of
mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and
Ethnologue counts 535 languages. Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of present-day
Cameroon; i.e. in the regions commonly known as
Central Africa,
Southeast Africa, and
Southern Africa. Parts of the Bantu area include languages from other language families (see map).