The Digo (''Wadigo'' in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

) 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 National ...

ethnic and linguistic group based near the Indian Ocean coast between Mombasa in southern Kenya and northern

Tanga Tanga may refer to: Places Burkina Faso * , a town in eastern Burkina Faso * Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso * Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso Other places * Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on th ...

in Tanzania. In 1994 the Digo population was estimated to total 305,000, with 217,000 ethnic Digo living in Kenya and 88,000 (1987 estimate) in Tanzania. Digo people, nearly all Muslims, speak the

Digo language Digo (''Chidigo'') is a Bantu language spoken primarily along the East African coast between Mombasa and Tanga by the Digo people of Kenya and Tanzania. The ethnic Digo population has been estimated at around 360,000 (Mwalonya et al. 2004), the ...

, called Chidigo by speakers, a

Bantu language 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 t ...

. They are part of the greater

Mijikenda Mijikenda may refer to: *Mijikenda peoples *Mijikenda language Mijikenda is a Bantu dialect cluster spoken along the coast of East Africa, mostly in Kenya, where there are 1.9 million speakers (2009 census) but also in Tanzania, where there are ...

ethnic group of people which contains nine smaller groups or tribes, including the Duruma,

Giriama The Giriama (also called Giryama) are one of the nine ethnic groups that make up the Mijikenda (which literally translates to "nine towns"). The Mijikenda occupy the coastal strip extending from Lamu in the north to the Kenya/Tanzania border in ...

, and others.. The Digo in Tanzania are the native inhabitants of Mkinga and

districts of Tanga Region and are a major cultural group there.

Culture

Due to the growing influence of Swahili culture, some Digo began converting to Islam in the 19th century. Islam soon spread further among the Digo and the majority were Muslim by the 1940s.

References

Mijikenda {{Tanzania-ethno-group-stub