Somali Bantus

Somali Bantus
Total population
1,000,000 (2010)[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Southern Somalia and Kenya
 Kenya685 (2019)[3]
 Somalia1,000,000 (2010)[4]
Languages
Mushunguli, Swahili, other Bantu languages, and Somali primarily the Maay dialect (through acculturation and ongoing language shift)
Religion
Primarily Islam[5]
Related ethnic groups
Other Bantus, especially Zigua, Ngulu, Swahilis

The Somali Bantus (also known as Jareerweyne or Gosha) are a Bantu ethnic minority group in Somalia who primarily reside in the southern part of the country, primarily near the Jubba and Shabelle rivers. The Somali Bantus are descendants of enslaved peoples from various Bantu ethnic groups from Southeast Africa, particularly from Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania.[6][7] The East African slave trade was not eliminated until the early parts of the 20th century.

Somali Bantus are not ancestrally related to the indigenous ethnic Somalis of Cushitic background and have a culture distinct from the ethnic Somalis. The Somali Bantu have remained marginalized ever since the establishment of Somalia.[8] Some Somali Bantu people have been displaced into Kenya, and a small number have returned to Tanzania.[9] An overseas diaspora community of Somali Bantus can be found primarily in the United States.[10]

There are many different Somali Bantu clans such as the Majindo, Makua, Malima, Mayasa, Mayao, Kiziguas, Kabole, Shabelle, Shiidle, Makane, Hintire, Eeyle, Sedah Omar, Digil Afaaf and Mirifle Afaaf, Biimaal Afaaf, and Some Moobleen. which all contain clans and subclans.[9] Assimilation into mainstream Somali society tends to be stronger for Somali Bantus living in urban areas and the Shebelle region, while Bantu linguistic and cultural traditions tend to be stronger in Somali Bantus of the Juba region.[11] Politically, the Somali Bantu of different tribes form ethnic alliances in the parliament of Somalia.[12]

The Somali Bantu are not to be confused with the members of Swahili society of Somalia in coastal centers, such as the Bajuni or the Bravanese, who speak dialects of the Swahili language but have a culture, tradition, and history separate of the Somali Bantu.[13][14]

The number of Somali Bantu in Somalia is estimated to be around 900,000 persons and is mainly concentrated in the south, but they can be found in urban areas throughout the country.[1] Although ref world minority rights website cites a figure of 1 million Somali Bantus in Somalia who made up 15% of the population in an article published in 2011 and taken from the UN's Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) in 2010.[15]

  1. ^ a b "Tanzania accepts Somali Bantus". BBC News. 25 June 2003. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Somalia".
  3. ^ "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics". December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Somalia".
  5. ^ "Somali Bantu History".
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Refugee Reports was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gcam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ L. Randol Barker et al., Principles of Ambulatory Medicine, 7 edition, (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: 2006), p.633
  9. ^ a b "Somali Bantu Refugees — EthnoMed". ethnomed.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Eno, Mohamed A. (2008). The Bantu-Jareer Somalis : unearthing apartheid in the Horn of Africa. London, UK: Adonis & Abbey Publishers. ISBN 978-1-905068-95-1. OCLC 638660234.
  13. ^ Banafunzi, Bana M.S. (October 1996). "The Education of the Bravanese Community. Key issues of culture and identity". Educational Studies. 22 (3): 331–342. doi:10.1080/0305569960220303. ISSN 0305-5698.
  14. ^ Bujra, Janet M. An anthropological study of political action in a Bajuni village in Kenya. OCLC 1079281283.
  15. ^ "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Somalia".