The Sonjo (native name Batemi) (''Wasonjo'' in Swahili) are a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle * Black Association for Nationa ...

ethnic group inhabiting some west of

Lake Natron Lake Natron is a salt or alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East African Rift. The lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Si ...

in Ngorongoro District of

Arusha Region Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern ...

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 ...

Overview

In 2002, the Sonjo population was estimated to number around 30,000 individuals (

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensi ...

). The term ''Sonjo'' is the name given to the people by the Maasai. Group members prefer to call themselves the ''Batemi'' people. The Sonjo people speak Sonjo, a

language. They refer to it as ''Kitemi'' or ''Gitemi''. The Sonjo are known for their use of irrigation systems in agriculture. They have consequently been linked by some historians with the Engaruka complex, situated some 60 miles to the southeast. The Sonjo also maintain terraced village sites, albeit of considerably more rudimentary form than what is found at Engaruka.

Notes

References

* Gray, Robert F. 1963. ''The Sonjo People of Tanganyika: An Anthropological Study of an Irrigation-based Society''. London: Oxford University Press. * Nurse, Derek & Franz Rottland 1991. ‘Sonjo: Description, Classification, History’, ''Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika'', 12/13: 171-289. * Nurse, Derek & Franz Rottland 1993. ‘A Linguists' View of the History of Sonjo and Engaruka’, ''Azania,'' 28: 1-5. {{Authority control Ethnic groups in Tanzania Indigenous peoples of East Africa Indigenous peoples of Arusha Region