The U.S. Internet social networking Web site Facebook now has a Swahili version, its promoters say.

Developed by Swahili scholars with Facebook's permission, the new site opens up Facebook to more than 110 million people who speak the language, mostly in Africa, the BBC reported Monday.

One of the project's developers, Simon Wanda, says the Swahili version will help preserve the language.

"The youth, the future generation, if you look at the biggest percentage of users on Facebook, they are the youth," he told the BBC. "They can easily navigate through when it's maybe a language they understand, which makes it easier to use the Swahili than to use the English."

The site is gaining traction quickly. Wanda said more than 60 percent of Facebook users in eastern Africa are already using the Swahili version.

Facebook exists in about 50 language versions, including one in Afrikaans. Analysts say a Hausa version could be started next in western Africa and Zulu for southern Africa.