The Somali language (Somali: Af-Soomaali; Arabic: الصومالية‎) is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900.

The exact number of speakers of Somali is unknown. One source estimates that there are 7.78 million speakers of Somali in Somalia itself and 12.65 million speakers globally. Combined with a large international expatriate community, it is difficult to get a specific number of Somali speakers, but somewhere between 16 and 20 million worldwide seems a reasonable estimate. According to Gordon (2005), approximately 13 million people speak Somali, but upwards of 25 million individuals are commonly estimated to speak the language.

The Somali language is spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya, and by the Somali diaspora.

Somali has been the national language of Somalia since 1972, gaining official status with standardization (Standard Somali) and the adoption of the Latin script, developed under orders of then president Siad Barre. Shire Jama Ahmed's script became The Official Somali Language Script. For nine years, The Somali Language Committee sifted through 18 competing scripts. The Committee was first commissioned in 1961 by Aden Abdulle Osman Daar, Somalia's first post-colonial president.