The Chaga tribe
Tribes of AfricaPlay episode
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The Chaga or Chagga are a Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic
group in Tanzania. They traditionally live the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and
eastern Mount Meru in both Kilimanjaro Region and eastern Arusha Region. Their relative
economic wealth comes from favourable fertile soil of Mount Kilimanjaro and successful
agricultural methods, which include extensive irrigation systems, terracing, and continuous
organic fertilization methods practiced for thousands of years.
The Chaga are said to have descended from various Bantu groups who migrated from
elsewhere in Africa to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, a migration that began around the
start of the eleventh century. Most of the 400 main clans are of Kamba origin which is
spoken in southeast Kenya; others are from Teita, Masai, and other peoples. The inhabitants
reveal migration occurred back and forth throughout the history of these groups, and the
Chaga people should be viewed as a part of the bigger population inhabiting the
entire Kilimanjaro Corridor.
