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Sonjo People
The Sonjo (native name Batemi) (''Wasonjo'' in Swahili) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting some west of Lake Natron in Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region, Tanzania. Overview In 2002, the Sonjo population was estimated to number around 30,000 individuals (Ethnologue). The term ''Sonjo'' is the name given to the people by the Maasai. Group members prefer to call themselves the ''Batemi'' people. The Sonjo people speak Sonjo, a Bantu language. They refer to it as ''Kitemi'' or ''Gitemi''. The Sonjo are known for their use of irrigation systems in agriculture. They have consequently been linked by some historians with the Engaruka complex, situated some 60 miles to the southeast. The Sonjo also maintain terraced village sites, albeit of considerably more rudimentary form than what is found at Engaruka. Notes References * Gray, Robert F. 1963. ''The Sonjo People of Tanganyika: An Anthropological Study of an Irrigation-based Society''. London: Oxford University Press. * Nurse, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonjo Language
Sonjo, or Temi, is a Bantu language spoken in northern Tanzania, west of Lake Natron. Ethnolinguistically, it is a displaced member of Guthrie’s E50 group, most other members of which are found in Central Kenya. Within that group, it is most closely related to Gikuyu. The Sonjo people number about 30,000 (2002 SIL); many of them are bilingual in Swahili, the local language of education. Sonjo is largely undescribed. The Sonjo have lived for centuries as an isolated enclave in Maasai territory. They are known for their use of irrigation systems in agriculture, a rare trait which causes some historians to link them to the hitherto unexplained ruined irrigation systems of Engaruka, to the southeast. The term ''Sonjo'' is the name given to the people by the Maasai; they call themselves ''batɛmi'' (sg. ''motɛmi'') and their language ''ketɛmi''. Apart from inevitable Maasai (Eastern Nilotic) influence, Sonjo shows influence from Chaga The Chaga or Chagga (Swahili la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the United Nations, Tanzania has a population of million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania, such as 6-million-year-old Pliocene hominid fossils. The genus Australopithecus ranged across Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago, and the oldest remains of the genus ''Homo'' are found near Lake Olduvai. Following the rise of '' Homo erectus'' 1.8 million years ago, humanity spread ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethnic Groups In Tanzania
There are more than 100 distinct ethnic groups and tribes in Tanzania, not including ethnic groups that reside in Tanzania as refugees from conflicts in nearby countries. These ethnic groups are of Bantu origin, with large Nilotic-speaking, moderate indigenous, and small non-African minorities. The country lacks a clear dominant ethnic majority: the largest ethnic group in Tanzania, the Maasai, comprises only about 16 percent of the country's total population, followed by the Wanyakyusa and the Chagga. Unlike its neighbouring countries, Tanzania has not experienced large-scale ethnic conflicts, a fact attributed to the unifying influence of the Swahili language. The ethnic groups mentioned here are mostly differentiated based on ethnolinguistic lines. They may sometimes be referred to together with noun class prefixes appropriate for ethnonyms: this can be either a prefix from the ethnic group's native language (if Bantu), or the Swahili prefix ''wa''. References Ndwewe ; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Rottland
Franz Rottland (December 4, 1934 in Gelsenkirchen – August 4, 2014) was a German linguist and Africanist. His interests included the historical linguistics of Nilotic languages and Cushitic languages. Biography After receiving his doctorate on September 8, 1970 at Leiden University and his habilitation in 1979 at the University of Cologne, Rottland served as the Chair of African Studies II at the University of Bayreuth until 1998. Rottland died in 2014 at the age of 79 and was buried in Alter Ehrenfelder Friedhof at Cologne's Melaten cemetery Melaten is the central cemetery of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was first mentioned in 1243. It was developed to a large park, holding the graves of notable residents. Name The name "Melaten" refers to a hospital for the sick and .... Selected publications * ''Die südnilotischen Sprachen. Beschreibung, Vergleichung und Rekonstruktion''. Berlin 1982, . * editor, with Rainer Voßen: ''Afrikanische Wildbeuter. Internati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engaruka
Engaruka is an abandoned system of ruins located in northwest Monduli District in central Arusha Region. The site is in geographical range of the Great Rift Valley of northern Tanzania. Situated in the Monduli District, it is famed for its irrigation and cultivation structures. It is considered one of the most important Iron Age archaeological sites in Tanzania. The site is located in the ward of Engaruka. The site is registered as one of the National Historic Sites of Tanzania. The site Sometime in the 15th century, an Iron Age farming community built a large continuous village area on the footslopes of the Rift Valley escarpment, housing several thousand people. They developed an intricate irrigation and cultivation system, involving a stone-block canal channeling water from the Crater Highlands rift escarpment to stone-lined cultivation terraces. Measures were taken to prevent soil erosion and the fertility of the plots was increased by using the manure of stall fed cattle. Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bantu Languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The total number of Bantu languages ranges in the hundreds, depending on the definition of "language" versus "dialect", and is estimated at between 440 and 680 distinct languages."Guthrie (1967-71) names some 440 Bantu 'varieties', Grimes (2000) has 501 (minus a few 'extinct' or 'almost extinct'), Bastin ''et al.'' (1999) have 542, Maho (this volume) has some 660, and Mann ''et al.'' (1987) have ''c.'' 680." Derek Nurse, 2006, "Bantu Languages", in the ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', p. 2:Ethnologue report for Southern Bantoid" lists a total of 535 languages. The count includes 13 Mbam languages, which are not always included under "Narrow Bantu". For Bantuic, Linguasphere has 260 outer languages (which are equivalent to languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maasai People
The Maasai (; sw, Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes and their distinctive customs and dress.Maasai - Introduction Jens Fincke, 2000–2003 The Maasai speak the Maa language (ɔl Maa), a member of the Nilotic language family that is related to the , |
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It was first issued in 1951, and is now published by SIL International, an American Christian non-profit organization. Overview and content ''Ethnologue'' has been published by SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization with an international office in Dallas, Texas. The organization studies numerous minority languages to facilitate language development, and to work with speakers of such language communities in translating portions of the Bible into their languages. Despite the Christian orientation of its publisher, ''Ethnologue'' isn't ideologically or theologically biased. ''Ethnologue'' includes alternative names and autonyms, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arusha Region
Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru (Tanzania), Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the East African Rift, Great Rift Valley, Arusha City has a temperate climate. The city is close to the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara National Park, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Meru (Tanzania), Mount Meru in the Arusha National Park. The city is a major international diplomatic hub. It hosts the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Court of the African Union and is the capital of the East African Community. From 1994 to 2015, the city also hosted the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but that entity has ceased operations. It is a multicultural city with a majority Tanzanian population of mixed backgroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term ''mashiach'' (מָשִׁיחַ) (usually rendered as ''messiah'' in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term ''Christian'' used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." It does not have a meaning of 'of Christ' or 'related or pertaining to Christ'. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ngorongoro District
Ngorongoro is one of the seven districts of the Arusha Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . It is bordered to the north by Kenya, to the east by Monduli District, the northeast by Longido District, and to the south by the Karatu District. The western border is the Serengeti District in Mara Region. Ngorongoro District is home to the Ngorongoro Crater and was named after it. The administrative seat is the town of Loliondo. The district is home to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Ngorongoro Region was 129,776. By 2012, the population of the district was 174,278. Within the district are the Ngorongoro Crater and active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai. The district plays host to parts of the wildebeest migration. While not part of the park, as such, much of the district is within the same Serengeti- Mara Ecosystem, which is defined by the limits of the annual wildli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Natron
Lake Natron is a salt or alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East African Rift. The lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Site wetland of international significance. The lake is fed principally by the Southern Ewaso Ng'iro River, which rises in central Kenya, and by mineral-rich hot springs. It is quite shallow, less than deep, and varies in width depending on its water level. The lake is a maximum of long and wide. The surrounding area receives irregular seasonal rainfall, mainly between December and May totalling per year. Temperatures at the lake are frequently above . High levels of evaporation have left behind natron (sodium carbonate decahydrate) and trona (sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate). The alkalinity of the lake can reach a pH of greater than 12. The surrounding bedrock is composed of alkaline, sodium-dominated trachyte lavas that were laid down ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
