Mwanga people

The Mwanga (also Nyamwanga or Namwanga ) are a small ethnic group with its own language variant ( Chinamwanga ) in northern Zambia and southern Tanzania.

1993 Nyamwanga were estimated at 256,000, of which 169,000 in Zambia and 87,000 in Tanzania. The ethnic group also includes Tambo 7,000 and 14,000 Iwa, so that the total number is 277,000 Mwanga. More recent figures for Zambia ( to 2000) call 38 887 Iwa, 163 957 Namwanga and 18,918 Tambo.

The traditional religion of Mwanga is based on ancestor worship and summoning their spirits.

The Mwanga, Nyika, Safwa, Ngonde, Kinga, Bena, Pangwa, Hehe and Sangu have common origins. They are clearly different from the matrilineal organized neighbors. All these groups seem to have migrated from northern Tanzania between Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria in the 16th century.