The Burunge or Burungi are a

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...

ethnic group and among Iraqhw Communities based in the Chemba District of

Dodoma Region Dodoma Region (''Mkoa wa Dodoma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Dodoma. The region is located in central Tanzania, it is bordered by Singida Region to the west; Manyara Region ...

in central

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. They speak the

Burunge language Burunge (also Bulunge, Burunga Iso, Burungee, Burungi, Kiburunge, Mbulungi, Mbulungwe) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Tanzania in the Dodoma Region, by the Burunge people The Burunge or Burungi are a Cushitic ethnic group and among Iraqh ...

as a mother tongue, which belongs to the

South Cushitic The South Cushitic or Rift languages of Tanzania are a branch of the Cushitic languages. The most numerous is Iraqw, with half a million speakers. These languages are believed to have been originally spoken by Southern Cushitic agro-pastoralist ...

branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. In 2002, the Burunge population was estimated at 13,000 individuals.

Land

The Burunge are native to northeastern Tanzania, in the

Kondoa district Kondoa District is one of the seven districts of the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Manyara Region, and to the south by Chemba District. Its district capital is the town of Kondoa. According to the 2012 Tanzania Nation ...

of the

Dodoma region Dodoma Region (''Mkoa wa Dodoma'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Dodoma. The region is located in central Tanzania, it is bordered by Singida Region to the west; Manyara Region ...

, southeast of the Langi, Goima, Chambalo, and Mirambu villages. The land in this region is generally described as scattered brush, and the Burunge have historically used the land for farming and cattle grazing and watering. In more recent times this has changed as land has been privatized in order to form Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) - these are areas that are to be used solely for wildlife conservation, and as such are off limits to farmers who used to graze and water their livestock in these areas.Goldman, M. J., & Riosmena, F. (2013). Adaptive capacity in Tanzanian Maasailand: Changing strategies to cope with drought in fragmented landscapes. ''Global Environmental Change'', ''23''(3), 588-597. As a result of the formation of the Wildlife Management Areas, and the close proximity to Tarangire National Park, most of the land in this area is used for tourism safaris.

References

Ethnic groups in Tanzania Indigenous peoples of East Africa Cushitic-speaking peoples {{Tanzania-ethno-group-stub