The Bantu languages are a language family of about 600 languages that are spoken by the Bantu peoples of Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland. It became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964. After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994.
The Northern Region is a region of Malawi. It had a population of 2,289,780 in 2018, and covers an area of 26,931 km², making it the smallest region both by population and area. Its capital city is Mzuzu. Starting in the north and going clockwise, the Northern Region borders on Tanzania, Lake Malawi, Malawi's Central Region, and Zambia.
The Central Region of Malawi, population 7,523,340 (2018), covers an area of 35,592 km². Its capital city is Lilongwe, which is also the national capital. The region has an outlet on Lake Malawi and borders neighbouring countries Zambia and Mozambique. The Chewa people make up the majority of the population today.
The Southern Region of Malawi is an area of Malawi. It covers an area of 31,753 km². Its capital city is Blantyre. In 2018, its population was 7,750,629.
The Makua people, also known as Makhuwa or Wamakua, are a Bantu ethnic group found in northern Mozambique and the southern border provinces of Tanzania such as the Mtwara Region. They are the largest ethnic group in Mozambique, and primarily concentrated in a large region to the north of the Zambezi River.
Makhuwa is the primary Bantu language of northern Mozambique. It is spoken by four million Makua people, who live north of the Zambezi River, particularly in Nampula Province, which is virtually entirely ethnically Makua. It is the most widely spoken indigenous language of Mozambique.
Chitipa District is the northernmost district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Chitipa. The district covers an area of 4,288 km.², and has a population of 234,927. Chitipa borders fellow districts Karonga and Rumphi, as well as neighboring countries Tanzania and Zambia. The district is divided into five main areas known as Misuku to the east, Kameme to the north, Bulambia right at the centre while Wenya and Nthalire areas are situated to the south.
Dowa is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. The capital is Dowa.
Karonga is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The district covers an area of 3,355 km.² and has a population of 365,028. It is a border district between Malawi and Tanzania, mainly occupied by the Tumbuka and Nkhonde tribes. Other tribes include Henga tribe.
Mchinji is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. The capital is Mchinji. The district covers an area of 3,356 km2 (1,296 sq mi) and has a population of 602,305. The area's economy is sustained by rain-fed agriculture.
Nsanje is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Nsanje. The district covers an area of 1,942 square kilometres (750 sq mi) and has a population of 194,924.
Phalombe is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Phalombe. The district covers an area of 1,394 km.² and has a population of 231,990.
The 250 or so "Narrow Bantu languages" are conventionally divided up into geographic zones first proposed by Malcolm Guthrie (1967–1971). These were assigned letters A–S and divided into decades ; individual languages were assigned unit numbers, and dialects further subdivided. This coding system has become the standard for identifying Bantu languages; it was a practical way to distinguish many ambiguously named languages before the introduction of ISO 639-3 coding, and it continues to be widely used. Only Guthrie's Zone S is (sometimes) considered to be a genealogical group. Since Guthrie's time a Zone J has been set up as another possible genealogical group bordering the Great Lakes.
The Makua or Makhuwa languages are a branch of Bantu languages spoken primarily in Mozambique.
Malawi Lomwe, known as Elhomwe, is a dialect of the Lomwe language spoken in southeastern Malawi in parts such as Mulanje and Thyolo.
Sena is a Bantu language spoken in the four provinces of central Mozambique : Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica. There were an estimated 900,000 native Sena speakers in Mozambique in 1997, with at least 1.5 million if including those who speak it as a second language. It is one of the Nyasa languages.
The Southern Bantu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92). They are nearly synonymous with Guthrie's Bantu zone S, apart from the exclusion of Shona and the inclusion of Makhuwa. They include all of the major Bantu languages of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, with outliers such as Lozi in Zambia and Namibia, and Ngoni in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.
Chuwabo (Echuwabo), also spelled Cuabo and Txuwabo, is a Bantu language spoken along the central coast of Mozambique.
Moniga, or Makhuwa-Moniga, is a Bantu language spoken by a quarter million Makua people in Mozambique. It is closely related to Cuabo.
