| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 469,000 (2001)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Tanzania | 385,000 (2009)[1] |
 Mozambique | Unknown |
| Languages | |
| Mwera language, Swahili | |
| Religion | |
Majority  Sunni Islam[2] (small minorities of Christianity and African Traditional Religion)[2][3] | |
The Mwera people are a Bantu ethnic and linguistic group. They are native to Ruangwa and Nachingwea Districts in Lindi Region. However they have also settled in northern Mtwara Region and eastern Ruvuma Region of Tanzania, as well as along the Ruvuma River between Tanzania and Mozambique.[4]
According to their oral traditions, the Mwera people are a Bantu people who originated around Lake Albert in north Uganda.[5] They migrated south in the late medieval era, and reached Lake Malawi (Nyasa). There they settled into two communities: the Mwera near Nyasa, and the coastal Mwera, who settled between the Lake and the Indian Ocean coast. The word "Mwera" literally means "inland dwellers" (far from coast). Those Mwera who live on the coast are called "Wamwera" by other Mwera people. They are known to be peaceful people, whose migration and population distribution has been historically affected by violence and seizure inflicted on them.[5]
In 2001, the Mwera population was estimated to number 469,000.[1] They speak the Mwera language, also called Kimwera, Mwela or Chimwera. This is a Bantu language that is part of the Niger-Congo family of languages.[1] The Mwera language contains a hodiernal tense.[citation needed]
- ^ a b c d Mwera: Languages of Tanzania, Chimwera, Cimwela, Cimwera, Kimwera, Mwela
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Iliffe, John (1979). A modern history of Tanganyika. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22024-6. OCLC 3868821.
- ^ David Lawrence (2009). Tanzania and Its People. New Africa Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-1-4414-8692-9.
- ^ a b Tumbo-Masabo, Zubeida; Liljeström, Rita (1994). Chelewa, chelewa: the dilemma of teenage girls. Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-91-7106-354-0.