Tonga people
Encyclopedia : T : TO : TON : Tonga people
The term Tonga or Batonga is used to designate several ethnic groups living in northern Malawi, southern Zambia, north-western Zimbabwe around Binga, west Mozambique, and southern Tanzania.
The Tonga of Malawi
The Tonga of Malawi live along the lakeshore, with a primary income derived from selling dried fish.
The Tonga of Mozambique
They live south of Zambezi River and the border with Zimbabwe.
The Tonga of Zambia
The so-called 'Valley Tonga' live along the Zambezi River valley and on the shores of the Kariba Dam. Their culture was severely disrupted by the creation of the Kariba Dam, which resulted in the displacement many people.
The so-called 'Plateau Tonga' live on the Southern Plateau of Zambia and are traditionally farmers. They traditionally placed great importance on cattle as symbols of wealth.
The Tonga are thought to have migrated from central Africa into the region during the 12th century. The Batonga are one of the so-called Bantu tribes of Africa. At least some of the Tonga people bore an unusual genetic trait – they possessed only two toes, each oversized and in appearance, something like a cloven hoof.
The Tonga of Zimbabwe
The BaTonga people of Zimbabwe are found in and around the Binga District, the Kariba area, and other parts of Matabeleland. They number up to 300,000 and are mostly subsistence farmers.
Tonga languages
The languages of the Tonga people are members of the Bantu language family. The Tonga language of Zambia is spoken by about 1.38 million people in Zambia and 137,000 in Zimbabwe; it is an important lingua franca in parts of those countries and is spoken by members of other ethnic groups as well as the Tonga. There are about 170,000 speakers of the Tonga language in Malawi.Ibid, [Ethnologue report for language code: tog]. URL accessed on 2006-05-08. The Zambian and Malawian languages are classified in different zones of the Bantu family.
In both variants the language is called chiTonga. The 'chi' means 'the language of the', like 'ki' in kiSwahili or 'se' in seTswana.
Other Languages
Tonga also speak their countries’ official languages: English in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; and Portuguese in Mozambique.
References
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