The Matumbi are a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language *Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for Nationali ...

ethnolinguistic group native to

Kilwa District Kilwa District (''Wilaya ya Kilwa'' in Swahili) is one of six administrative districts of Lindi Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . The district is comparable in size to the land area of the nation state of East Timor. Kilwa dis ...

Lindi Region Lindi Region (''Mkoa wa Lindi'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Sri Lanka. The regional capital is the mu ...

in southern

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 ...

, who speak the

Matumbi language Matuumbi, also known as Kimatuumbi and Kimatumbi, is a language spoken in Tanzania in the Kipatimu region of the Kilwa District, south of the Rufiji river. It is a Bantu language, P13 in Guthrie's classification. Kimatuumbi is closely related to ...

. They are also the native inhabitants of the Songosongo island archipelago. Their homeland is also south of the Rufiji delta in southern

Pwani Region Pwani Region (''Mkoa wa Pwani'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The word "''Pwani''" in Swahili means the "''coast''". The regional capital is the town of Kibaha. The Region borders the Tanga Region to the north, Mo ...

in Rufiji District. In 1978 the Matumbi population was estimated to number 72,000. They are the largest ethnic group in Kilwa District. The

Matumbi Highlands The Matumbi Highlands or Matumbi Hills is a major highland of southern Tanzania, extending from southern Pwani Region to northern Kilwa District of Lindi Region. The Matumbi highlands are named after the peoples that were the original inhabitants ...

are named after them.

Culture

The Matumbi are mainly farmers and the ones that settled on the coast and Songosongo Islands are fishermen. Crops grown by Matumbi include rice and coconuts. For livestock they raise goats and poultry. Like many groups in the world, the Matumbi are a

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...

society. The Matumbi are adherents of Islam.

References

Ethnic groups in Tanzania Indigenous peoples of East Africa {{Tanzania-ethno-group-stub