language within the Saharan (Saharan languages) branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Kanuri consists of two main dialects, Manga Kanuri and Yerwa Kanuri (also called Beriberi, which they consider pejorative), spoken in central Africa by more than 5,700,000 individuals at the turn of the 21st century. Manga Kanuri is a trade language spoken by about 450,000 people in Niger and more than 250,000 in neighbouring Nigeria. Yerwa Kanuri, the more widespread of the two dialects, is used for both oral and written communication in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and The Sudan (Sudan, The). More than 5,000,000 people, most of whom live in Nigeria (where Kanuri is a national language), claim Yerwa Kanuri as a first or second language. The Ajami (Mozarabic) script, based on the Arabic alphabet, is used for written communication.