DURBAN - Google web mapping service, Google Maps, has added three African languages Afrikaans, Swahili and IsiZulu to its service.
Altogether the mapping service made an addition of 39 new languages including the three mentioned above.
These 39 languages are estimated to be spoken by 1,25 billion people across the world.
Some of the other languages the Google Maps is available in include Burmese, Armenian, Norwegian and Hebrew.
Many of the languages that Google Maps has added are spoken by large populations of people.
Swahili is spoken by 8% of the African continent and originates from East Africa, Afrikaans is spoken by 6.9 million people and at least 10 million speak isiZulu.
Previously Google Maps was only available in English in South Africa now with the addition of two of South Africa's official languages (Afrikaans and IsiZulu) , more South Africans will be able to make use of Google Maps.
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The new language additions will be available on mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps on iOS, Android, Mac and Windows OS. Google Map was started in 2004 and has made great stride with the addition of the new languages.
Here are some Twitter reactions by South Africans regarding the addition of two South African languages on Google Maps.
Google Maps now speaks isiZulu and Afrikaans - just very badly https://t.co/LZ2xx5bjyc
— Hon. Marco Machona (@RuffcutsWear) March 29, 2018
Google Maps now speaks isiZulu and Afrikaans - just very badly https://t.co/IRDA6HJg9l
— The Turk Report (@TheTurkReport) March 28, 2018
Google Maps adds Afrikaans and Zulu language options https://t.co/JOBgkOc28T via @businesstechSA
— Leon van Tonder (@leon_vtonder) March 29, 2018
You can now navigate with @google in Afrikaans, Zulu, and Swahili... https://t.co/Gk4bBZWQah
— Bruno Bertrand (@bgbertrand) March 28, 2018
Google Maps is now available in Afrikaans and Zulu (and 37 other languages)! https://t.co/Insv1NN2pl
— Hilton Tarrant (@hiltontarrant) March 27, 2018