Samia tribe

Samia Bagwe of Uganda

Samia speaking people live in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda. They are composed of several clans and their ancient economic activities include fishing in Lake Victoria and other rivers such as River Sio, crop farming (obulimi), and animal farming (obutuki).[1] The Samia speaking people, as widely known by other tribes, predominantly live in Busia districts (Both in Kenya and Uganda) and speak a dialect similar to the Luhya tribe in Kenya. However, on the Ugandan side there is a slight variation in the dialect spoken by the Samia of Southern Busia on the fringe of Lake Victoria and those of North Busia district closer to Tororo District.[2] The former speak Olusamia while the latter speak Olugwe. The two dialects are difficult to differentiate by non Samia speaking people but easily discernible by the natives.[3] and in Uganda mainly found inbusia and Namayingo district.[4]

Samia
Total population
794,000[5]
Regions with significant populations
Kenya and Uganda
 Kenya84,828[6]
 Uganda421,106[7]
Languages
Samia
Religion
Christianity, Traditional African religions, Islam[8]
Related ethnic groups
Other Bantu people
  1. ^ "Naming rituals among the Samia". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Luhya Tribe: Kenya's Second Largest Ethnic Tribe". Kenya Information Guide. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Basamia tribe of Uganda". Safari World Tours. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  5. ^ "Saamya-Gwe language resources | Joshua Project".
  6. ^ https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3.sourceafrica.net/documents/119795/VOLUME-IV-KPHC-2019.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ Uganda Bureau of Statistics. "National Population and Housing Census 2014 - Main Report" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Population Composition" (PDF). ubos.org. Retrieved 7 August 2023.