Swahili, also known by its native name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Waswahili who are found along the East African coast and litoral islands. Due to concerted efforts by the government of Kenya and Tanzania, Swahili is one of three official languages of the East African Community (EAC) countries, namely Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is a lingua franca of other areas in the African Great Lakes region and East and Southern Africa, including some parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, the southern tip of Somalia, and Zambia. Swahili is also one of the working languages of the African Union and of the Southern African Development Community. The number of Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language speakers, is estimated to be approximately 200 million.
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pastoral tribes slowly decreased, reaching an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world as of 1995.
The Mbuti people, or Bambuti, are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages are Central Sudanic languages and Bantu languages.
The Abagusii are a highly diverse East African ethnic group and nation indigenous to Kisii and Nyamira counties of former Nyanza, as well as parts of Kericho and Bomet counties of the former Rift Valley province of Kenya. The Abagusii are unrelated to the Kisi people of Malawi and the Kissi people of West Africa, other than the three communities having similar sounding names.
The East Region occupies the southeastern portion of the Republic of Cameroon. It is bordered to the east by the Central African Republic, to the south by Congo, to the north by the Adamawa Region, and to the west by the Centre and South Regions. With 109,002 km2 of territory, it is the largest region in the nation as well as the most sparsely populated. Historically, the peoples of the East have been settled in Cameroonian territory for longer than any other of the country's many ethnic groups, the first inhabitants being the Baka pygmies.
The Chaga or Chagga are a Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Region and eastern Arusha Region. Their relative economic wealth comes from favorable fertile soil of mount Kilimanjaro and successful agricultural methods, which include extensive irrigation systems, terracing, and continuous organic fertilization methods practiced for thousands of years.
The Sukuma are a Bantu ethnic group from the southeastern African Great Lakes region. They are the largest ethnic group in Tanzania, with an estimated 10 million members or 16 percent of the country's total population. Sukuma means "north" and refers to "people of the north." The Sukuma refer to themselves as Wasukuma (plural) and Msukuma (singular).
The Nyamwezi, or Wanyamwezi, are one of the Bantu groups of East Africa. They are the second-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. The Nyamwezi people's ancestral homeland is in parts of Tabora Region, Singida Region, Shinyanga Region and Katavi Region. The term Nyamwezi is of Swahili origin, and translates as "people of the moon" on one hand but also means "people of the west" the latter being more meaningful to the context.
Singida is one of the regions of Tanzania. The regional capital is the municipality of Singida. The region is bordered to the north by Shinyanga Region, Simiyu Region and Arusha Region, to the northeast by Manyara Region, to the east by Dodoma Region, to the southeast by Iringa Region, to the southwest by Mbeya Region and to the west by Tabora Region.
The Meru or Amîîrú are a Bantu ethnic group that inhabit the Meru region of Kenya on the fertile lands of north and eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, in the former Eastern Province of Kenya.
The Yao people, waYao, are a major Bantu ethnic and linguistic group based at the southern end of Lake Malawi, who played an important part in the history of Southeast Africa during the 19th century. The Yao are a predominantly Muslim people of about 2 million spread over three countries, Malawi, northern Mozambique, and in Ruvuma Region and Mtwara Region of Tanzania. The Yao people have a strong cultural identity, which transcends the national borders.
Khonds are an indigenous Adivasi tribal community in India. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, they are divided into the hill-dwelling Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds for census purposes; all the Khonds identify by their clan and usually hold large tracts of fertile land but still practice hunting, gathering and slash-and-burn agriculture in the forests as a symbol of their connection to and ownership of the forest. Khonds speak the Kui and Kuvi languages and write them in Odia script.
The Sumbwa are a Bantu group native to Bukombe District, Geita Region in central Tanzania. In 1987 the Sumbwa population was estimated to number 191,000 .sumbwa is a tribe that has had its own traditions and good practices some of their traditional dances are mulekule
The Sandawe are an indigenous ethnic group of Southeast Africa, based in the Chemba District of Dodoma Region in central Tanzania. In 2000, the Sandawe population was estimated to be 40,000.
The Safwa are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the mountains of the Mbeya Region, Tanzania. The Safwa language is a member of the large Niger–Congo language family group. Alternate names for Safwa are Ishisafwa, Cisafwa, and Kisafwa. Its dialects are Guruka, Mbwila, Poroto, and Songwe. ISO 639-3 language code is sbk.
The Turu are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the Singida Region of north-central Tanzania who speak the bantu language Kinyaturu. In 1993, the Turu population was estimated to number 556,000.. The current population of the Turu is now over 1,000,000. They speak the Turu language.
The Kuria people (also known as the AbaKurya, are a Bantu community in Tanzania and Kenya. Their homeland is bounded on the east by the Migori River and on the west by the Mara River estuary. Traditionally a pastoral and farming community, the Kuria grow maize, beans and cassava as food crops and coffee and maize as cash crops.
The Hadza, or Hadzabe, are a Tanzanian indigenous ethnic group mostly based in southwest Karatu District of Arusha Region. They live around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau. There are, as of 2015, between 1,200 and 1,300 Hadza people living in Tanzania, however only around 400 Hadza still survive exclusively based on the traditional means of foraging. Additionally, the increasing impact of tourism and encroaching pastoralists pose serious threats to the continuation of their traditional way of life.
The Barabaig are a nomadic tribe of the Datooga people based in the northern volcanic highlands near Mount Hanang in Manyara Region, Tanzania, speaking the eponymous dialect of the Datooga language. Their population is about 50,000.
Culture in Namibia is a blend of many different people and its culture and customs have absorbed both African and European elements and fused them into a blend of the two. Although the country is urbanising rapidly, a majority of Namibians still live in rural areas and lead largely impoverished lives. It is among these people, however, that cultural tradition survive most strongly.
