Hausa is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people, the largest native ethnic group in Africa, mainly within the territories of Niger and the northern half of Nigeria, and with significant minorities in Ghana, Sudan, and Cameroon.

Hausa is a member of the Afroasiatic language family and is the most widely spoken language within the Chadic branch of that family. Ethnologues estimated that it was spoken as a first language by some 47 million people and as a second language by another 25 million, bringing the total number of Hausa speakers to an estimated 72 million.According to more recent estimations, Hausa would be spoken by 100–150 million people, possibly making it the most spoken indigenous, native African language.