This article is about the ethnic group. For the language, see Chewa language.
Chewa
Late 20th-century wood, paint, feathers, metal and wool mask from the Chewa people in Malawi in the British Museum
Total population
9.8 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Malawi
7,270,000 (2020)[2]
Mozambique
1,290,000 (2017)[3]
Zambia
930,000 (2010)[4]
Zimbabwe
405,000 (2012)[5]
Eswatini
5,700 (2019)[6]
Languages
Chewa, English, Portuguese
Religion
Christianity, traditional Chewa religion, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Tumbuka, Tonga, Kunda, Sena, Nyungwe
Person
MChewa
People
AChewa
Language
Chichewa
Country
Uchewa
The Chewa (or AChewa) are a Bantu ethnic group found in Malawi, Zambia and few in Mozambique. The Chewa are closely related to people in surrounding regions such as the Tumbuka and Nsenga. They are historically also related to the Bemba, with whom they share a similar origin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As with the Nsenga and Tumbuka, a small part of Chewa territory came under the influence of the Ngoni, who were of Zulu or Natal/Transvaal origin. An alternative name, often used interchangeably with Chewa, is Nyanja. Their language is called Chichewa. Internationally, the Chewa are mainly known for their masks and their secret societies, called Nyau, as well as their agricultural techniques.
The Chewa (like the Nyanja, Tumbuka, Senga, Nsenga, Mang'anja) are a remnant of the Maravi (Malawi) people or empire.[7]
There are two large Chewa clans, the Phiri and Banda,[8] with a population of 1.5 million people.[9] The Phiri are associated with the kings and aristocracy, the Banda with healers and mystics.
^"Chichewa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^"Chichewa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^"Chichewa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^"Chichewa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^"Chichewa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^"Chichewa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
^"Chewa | Encyclopedia.com". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^Phiri, Isabel Apawo (2007). Women, Presbyterianism and Patriarchy. Religious Experience of Chewa Women in Central Malawi. African Books Collective. pp. 23–26.
^Gough, Amy (2004). "The Chewa". The Peoples of The World Foundation. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
The Chewa (or AChewa) are a Bantu ethnic group found in Malawi, Zambia and few in Mozambique. The Chewa are closely related to people in surrounding regions...
Chewa (also known as Nyanja, /ˈnjændʒə/) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix...
earlier than the Chewa. This was actually done before the Chewapeople had actually moved toward Malawi and Mozambique.The Nsenga people are also well-known...
Chewa may refer to: the Chewapeople the Chewa language This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Chewa. If an internal link led...
the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from Central and Southern Africa. The Nyau society consists of initiated members of the Chewapeople, forming...
territory long after the Tumbuka formed their kingdom. These are Tumbuka Chewa, Tumbuka Senga, Tumbuka Mlowoka, and Tumbuka Ngoni. In reality and culturally...
Chewa word malaŵí, which means "flames". "Maravi" is a general name of the peoples of Malawi, eastern Zambia, and northeastern Mozambique. The Chewa language...
This is a list of notable Chewapeople, a Bantu people of central and southern Africa. Allan Chibwe Billy Mutale Ernest Mbewe Gamphani Lungu Patson Daka...
collectively called the Maravi, and most prominently among them was the Chewapeople (AChewa), who started assimilating other Bantu groups like the Tumbuka...
languages people Tsonga Ronga Tswa Venda people Shona people Chopi people Chopi Guitonga Chewapeople Yeyi people Kavango languages people Ovambo people Herero...
understood from this account written by a British hunter who came across a Chewa village a few hours after a raid in 1897: On my arrival I found the male...
Loya may refer to:mal Phiri, a clan of the Chewapeople Phiri (surname), a surname Phiri, Soweto, a township in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa This...
collectively called the Maravi, most prominently among them was the Chewapeople, started assimilating other Bantu groups like the Tumbuka. In 1480 the...
autocephalous Sena people were those between the two large cultures of Shona people – a major ethnic group of Zimbabwe, and the Nyanja-Chewapeople – a major ethnic...
of social events for the Bemba people and beer was brewed often during harvest months. Like the Bemba, the Chewapeople also eat a porridge, called nsima...
Muslims can also be found among other groups, such as the lakeside Chewapeople and Indian and other Asian Malawians. Muslims in the country have been...
and Zambia, they speak a mixture of the languages of the people they conquered, such as Chewa, Nsenga and Tumbuka.[citation needed] "isiNdebele for beginners...
highlands. Yao are the predominant people of the northern highlands, and Chewapeople in the center and south. The Lomwe people also live in the highlands. Blantyre...
The Bantu peoples are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native African ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The languages...
disturbed the education of young boys. Nyao is a cultural practice of Chewapeople who are found mainly in Malawi, as well as parts of Zambia, Mozambique...
language Yauma language People of Zambia Ethnic groups Ba Yombe Balovale Bemba people British diaspora in Africa Chewapeople Chokwe Eastern Lunda Kanongesha-Lunda...
East Africa, Kaonde in Zambia and the DRC, Luba in the DRC, and Nsenga and Chewa in Zambia and Malawi. In Zambia, Bemba is primarily spoken in the Northern...
drink among many of the Chewa/Nyanja, Shona, Ndebele, Nama Khoikhoi and Damara people, Sotho people, Tswana people and Nguni people made from fermented mealie...
mining areas in Mthwakazi, a centre of settlement for members of the ChewaPeople. They migrated to the then British colony of Southern Rhodesia in the...
census that enumerated people by language. Since the adoption of the 2013 Constitution, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English...
Global Information
Malawi
Mozambique
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Eswatini