Pare people

Pare

Wapare
Total population
~ 735,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Tanzania	731,000[1] Kilimanjaro Region (Mwanga District) (Same District)
Kenya	4,400[1] (Taita-Taveta)
Languages
Pare & Gweno Dialects: Chasu related to Taita; Gweno related to Taveta and Chaga; Mbugu, a mixed Cushitic language & Swahili
Religion
Majority Islam, Minority Christianity and African Traditional Religion
Related ethnic groups
Chaga, Bondei, Zigua, Sambaa & other Bantu peoples

The Pare (pronounced "Pahray") (Wapare, in Swahili) are a Bantu ethnic group. Their ancestral home is on the Pare Mountains of Same District and Mwanga District of Kilimanjaro Region in Northerneast Tanzania. During his visit to Usambara in 1848, German Colonial explorer J. L. Krapf was informed, among other things, that there were the Wapare and Wagweno people living in the north. It seems that the people of South Pare were referred to by the former name, and the people of North Pare by the latter. We refer to both groups by the name Pare nowadays. The Pare Mountains' southern peaks were known as "Mpare," thus it is evident from Pare customs that the name Pare was bestowed upon them by their neighbors to the south. It appears that Upare, as it is now called, consisted of two distinct communities until the early nineteenth century, although they had been progressively merging since the latter part of the eighteenth century.^[2]

Historically, Pareland was also known as Vuasu (South Pare) and Vughonu (North Pare) to its inhabitants. Their historic location lies on one of the northern routes of the historic East-African long-distance trade, connecting the hinterland with the coast of the Indian Ocean.^[3]

The people of Vuasu (Asu being the root word) are referred to as Vaasu and they speak a language known as Chasu or Athu. The people of Vughonu (Ugweno, in Swahili) are referred to as Vaghonu (Wagweno in Swahili) and they speak a language known as Kighonu (Gweno in Swahili).^[4]