Taita people

The Taita are an ethnic group in Southeast Kenya. The Taita living in the coastal province and in the district of Taita. The largest town called Voi (approx. 60,000 inhabitants). The predominant religion is Christianity.

The first Taita and their predecessors had an irrigation system for the cultivation of crops. There are cultivated millet, maize, sugar cane, bananas, beans, cassava and tobacco.

Language

A census in 1989 showed 203 389 speaker of the Taita language. Alternative names of the language are: Dabida, Dawida, Kitaita, Teita. Most speakers also speak Swahili.

The ISO 639-3 language code is dav.