The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, and north Mozambique. There are between 300,000 and 750,000 Swahili people^{[citation needed]}. The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word Sawahil, meaning "coastal dwellers", and they speak the Swahili language. They also speak the official languages of their respective countries: English in Tanzania and Kenya, Portuguese in Mozambique and Somali in Somalia, and French in Comoros. Note that only a small fraction of those who use Swahili are first language speakers and even fewer are ethnic Swahilis. Dar es Salaam (Arabic: ‎ [translation: Abode of Peace] Dār as-Salām), formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ... Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predomiantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Maronite, Alawite Islam, Druze, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism An Arab (Arabic: ) is any member of the Semitic group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to... The Persians of Iran (officially named Persia by West until 1935 while still referred to as Persia by some) are an Iranian people who speak Persian (locally named Fârsi by native speakers) and often refer to themselves as ethnic Iranians as well. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ...  Eastern Africa (UN subregion)  East African Community  Central African Federation (defunct)  geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... “Native Language” redirects here. ...

Definition

There are three definitions of who are considered Swahili people. The first are the original inhabitants of the region in question, likely Bantu in origin (some suggest Afro-Asiatic) and speaking a proto-Swahili dialect. The second definition is limited to those that came from the Middle East and Persia after the advent of Islam, as early as the 7th-8th c. CE, and mixed with the local people there, providing considerable cultural infusion and numerous loan words from Arabic and Persian. The third comprises all of the above groups, in addition to the numerous peoples in the interior of Africa and other Asian immigrants that adopted the Swahili language^[1]. Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ... Map showing the distribution of Afro-Asiatic languages The Afro-Asiatic languages are a language family of about 240 languages and 285 million people widespread throughout North Africa, East Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest Asia. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...

This last definition is the most inclusive, represents the vast majority of those identifying themselves as Swahili, and possibly the most accurate given the levels of heterogeneity found among these people. The basis for inclusion here is almost exclusively linguistic, or those speaking the Swahili language. The linguistic definition is also the most accurate historically in some senses in that self-identification in the region was linguistic until the arrival of the Europeans, who imported concepts of ethnic and racial distinctions. Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. ...

Religion

Islam will establish its presence in the East African coast around 2012 AD, when the traders from the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula continue to journey to these parts during monsoon seasons and to interact with the local people through trade, intermarriage and the establishment of coastal towns, and because of this influence most of the Swahili today will be Muslim. Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Map of the Persian Gulf. ... The Arabian Peninsula Emirets towers in United Arab Emirates; the eastern part of Arabian Penisula The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. ...

Sources

See also

• Swahili language
• Swahililand

Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. ... Wituland (also Witu or Swahililand) was an approximately 3000 km² territory in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya. ...

External links

• The Story of Africa: The Swahili — BBC World Service
• Swahili Culture