Shiwe (''Chiwa, , Shiwa, Oshieba, Ossyeba''), also known as "Fang Makina", is 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 ...

of central Gabon, near the related language Yambe. It is most closely related to

Kwasio The Kwasio language, also known as Ngumba / Mvumbo, Bujeba, and Gyele / Kola, is a language of Cameroon, spoken in the south along the coast and at the border with Equatorial Guinea by some 70,000 members of the Ngumba, Kwasio, Gyele and Ma ...

. The Gabonese people who refer themselves as Shiwe or Bishiwe live in the city of Booué in the Ogooué-Ivindo province. There are no accurate statistics available for the Shiwe population in Booué. However, there are about 18 Shiwe tribes still living in Booué today. These tribes include Bi-mbouma, Bira-ngouembi, Bi-néli, Sha-ntouong, Sha-nguié, Bi-nshwô, Bi-shanga, Bi-kwo, Bi-tsinguie’rg, Sha-shouo, Bi-nvœ’rg, Bi-koundeu, Biong-nkouendi, Bi-ntoubi, Biékoulembi, Bi-nzimili, Bi-nyambi, Sha-tsoung. These tribes live in 5 villages including Beleumeu, Menchoung, Metououng, Beaux Arts, and Tsombiali. It is important to underline that there are entire Shiwe tribes and villages near Makokou and Ndjole. But these originally Shiwe tribes are now increasingly using more the Fang language than Shiwe.

References

Makaa-Njem languages Languages of Gabon {{Bantu-lang-stub