 Akkadian belongs with the other Semitic languages in the Near Eastern branch of the Afroasiatic languages, a family native to the Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, parts of Anatolia, North Africa, Malta, Canary Islands and parts of West Africa (Hausa).Akkadian and its successor Aramaic, however, are only ever attested in Mesopotamia and the Near East.Within the Near Eastern Semitic languages, Akkadian forms an East Semitic subgroup (with Eblaite).