Shambaa people

Sambaa
Wasambaa
Total population
	664,000
Regions with significant populations
	Tanzania ; Tanga Region ; (Lushoto District) ; (Korogwe District) ; (Bumbuli District)
Languages
	Shambaa & Swahili
Religion
	Majority Islam, Minority Christianity and ; African Traditional Religion
Related ethnic groups
	Bondei, Zigua, Chaga Pare & other Bantu peoples

The Shambaa people, also called the Sambaa, Shambala, Sambala or Sambara (Wasambaa, in Swahili), are a Bantu ethnic group. Their ancestral home is on the Usambara Mountains of Lushoto District, Korogwe District and Bumbuli District. They are native to the valleys and eastern Usambara Mountains of Korogwe District, Korogwe Urban District and western Muheza District of northern Tanga Region of Tanzania.^[1]^[2] The word Shamba means "farm", and these people live in one of the most fertile Tanzanian region. Shambaai in Kisambaa means "where the banana's thrive".^[3] In 2001, the Shambaa population was estimated to number 664,000.^[4]^[1]

^ ^a ^b David Lawrence (2009). Tanzania and Its People. New Africa Press. pp. 121–122. ISBN 978-1-4414-8692-9.
^ Katariina Vainio-Mattila (2000), Wild vegetables used by the Sambaa in the Usambara Mountains, NE Tanzania, Annales Botanici Fennici, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2000), pages 57-67
^ Iliffe, John (1979). A Modern History of Tanganyika. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780511584114.
^ Ethnologue 2001.