Zulu is natively spoken by about 14 million people, primarily in South Africa and neighboring countries, where it is one of the official languages. It is integral to Zulu cultural identity, known for its oral traditions, including praise poetry (izibongo), beadwork, and ceremonies such as the Umhlanga reed dance. Written in the Latin alphabet with additional diacritics, Zulu grammar features a subject-verb-object (SVO) word order, extensive use of noun classes (similar to other Bantu languages), and a system of verb conjugations that indicate tense, aspect, and mood.