Pulaar

Pulaar, also called Pular in some regions, is a major variety of the Fula language (Fulani, Fula-Fulani), which belongs to the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken by the Pulaar-speaking Fulɓe people across West Africa, most prominently in Senegal and Mauritania, with substantial communities in The Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. Estimates place several million speakers.

Pulaar forms part of the Senegambian subgroup of the Fula dialect continuum; speakers of different Pulaar varieties generally understand each other to varying degrees, but mutual intelligibility with other Fula languages is not uniform.

Writing systems vary. In modern contexts, Pulaar is typically written in a Latin-based orthography in Senegal and Mauritania, while Ajami (Arabic script) has also been used historically. There are dialectal varieties, often referred to as Pulaar (Senegal–Mauritania) and Pular (in The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and adjacent areas), among others.

Pulaar is widely used in daily communication, local media, and regional education, alongside national languages such as French in some countries. It plays a central role in Fulɓe culture, oral literature, and communities shaped by Islamic traditions.