Dar es Salaam (Mzizima) Malindi Mombasa Sofala Lamu Zanzibar
Ethnic groups
• Bantu
Swahili
The Swahili coast (Swahili: Pwani ya Waswahili) is a coastal area of East Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean and inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Sofala (located in Mozambique); Mombasa, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi (in Kenya); and Dar es Salaam and Kilwa (in Tanzania).[1] In addition, several coastal islands are included in the Swahili coast, such as Zanzibar and Comoros.
Areas of what is today considered the Swahili coast were historically known as Azania or Zingion in the Greco-Roman era, and as Zanj or Zinj in Middle Eastern, Indian, and Chinese literature from the 7th to the 14th century.[2][3] The word "Swahili" means people of the coasts in Arabic and is derived from the word sawahil ("coasts").[4]
The Swahili people and their culture formed from a distinct mix of African and Arab origins.[4] The Swahili were traders and merchants and readily absorbed influences from other cultures.[5] Historical documents including the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and works by Ibn Battuta describe the society, culture, and economy of the Swahili coast at various points in its history. The Swahili coast has a distinct culture, demography, religion, and geography, and as a result—along with other factors, including economic—has witnessed rising secessionism in the early 21st century.[6]
^Kemezis, K., 2010. East African City States (1000-1500). Blackpast.org. Available at: <https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/east-african-city-states/> [Accessed 23 April 2020].
^Felix A. Chami, "Kaole and the Swahili World," in Southern Africa and the Swahili World (2002), 6.
^A. Lodhi (2000), Oriental influences in Swahili: a study in language and culture contacts,ISBN 978-9173463775, pp. 72-84
^ ab"Swahili Coast". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
^Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania, retrieved 2019-10-30
^"Contagion of discontent: Muslim extremism spreads down east Africa coastline," The Economist (3 November 2012)
The Swahilicoast (Swahili: Pwani ya Waswahili) is a coastal area of East Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean and inhabited by the Swahili people. It...
Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). The number of current Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language...
The Swahili people (Swahili: WaSwahili, وَسوَحِيلِ) comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahilicoast, an area encompassing...
African Great Lakes. Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili people. Swahilicoast, a littoral region...
Swahili culture is the culture of the Swahili people inhabiting the Swahilicoast. This littoral area encompasses Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique, as...
eastern and southeastern coasts of Africa. Rather than simple derivatives of Islamic architecture from the Arabic world, Swahili stone architecture is a...
Shirazi also known as Mbwera, are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the Swahilicoast and the nearby Indian ocean islands. They are particularly concentrated...
Africa (primarily the SwahiliCoast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is also the origin of the place-names Zanzibar ("coast of the Zanji") and the...
authority on the Swahilicoast began to diminish. With the help of Omani Arabs, by 1729 the Portuguese presence had been removed. The Swahilicoast eventually...
whose authority, at its height, stretched over the entire length of the SwahiliCoast. According to the legend, it was founded in the 10th century by Ali...
since 1964 union with Tanganyika (part of Tanzania) Mfalume is the (Ki)Swahili title of various native Muslim rulers, generally rendered in Arabic and...
Muslim population. The faith was introduced by merchants visiting the Swahilicoast, which led to local conversions and foreign Muslims becoming assimilated...
officials at his beck and call. Ibn Battuta continued by ship south to the Swahilicoast, a region then known in Arabic as the Bilad al-Zanj ("Land of the Zanj")...
Africa, crossing the Sahel into West, and spreading further down the Swahilicoast. Some notable kingdoms and empires in Africa include the Ajuran Empire...
autonomous city-states that dotted the East African coast. These towns grew in wealth as the Swahili people served as intermediaries and facilitators to...
consists of Arabs, with many of these Arabs being Swahili language speakers and returnees from the SwahiliCoast, particularly Zanzibar. Additionally, there...
the Indian Ocean basin, including the Horn of Africa, the SwahiliCoast, the Malabar Coast, Hyderabad in South India, Sri Lanka, and Maritime Southeast...
languages are the Bantu languages of the SwahiliCoast, named for the Sabaki River. In addition to Swahili, Sabaki languages include Ilwana (Malakote)...
The Coast Province (Swahili: Mkoa wa Pwani) was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It contained all of the country's coastline on the Indian Ocean. Its capital...
and Adventure in South-East Africa. People include the San people. The Swahili language is spoken, both as an official language and lingua franca, by...
A Swahili door or Zanzibari door (Swahili Mlango wa Kiswahili) is a door that was developed in the Swahilicoast during the Middle Ages and peaked in the...
This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)(570–632...
entire East African coast, including modern day Mozambique. Largely autonomous, these towns broadly participated in the incipient Swahili culture. Islam was...
Swahili literature is literature written in the Swahili language, particularly by Swahili people of the East African coast and the neighboring islands...
Island"[citation needed]; Swahili: Pemba kisiwa) is a Tanzanian island forming part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, lying within the SwahiliCoast in the Indian Ocean...
Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). Swahili has a high number of loanwords from other languages...
Mandazi (Swahili: Mandazi, Maandazi) is a form of fried bread that originated on the SwahiliCoast. It is also known as bofrot or puff puff in Western...
Pate (Paté) Island (Swahili pronunciation: [ˈpate]) is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. It is the...
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