The Mpoto are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the
Mbinga
Mbinga is a town and ward in the Ruvuma Region of southwestern Tanzania. It is located along the A19 road
The A19 is a major road in England running approximately parallel to and east of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. Although the ...
District of
Ruvuma Region
Ruvuma Region (''Mkoa wa Ruvuma'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers a land area of , comparable in size to the nation state of Latvia. The region is also bordered ...
in southern
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, along the northeast shore of
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is ...
. In 1977 the Mpoto population was estimated to number 80,00
Mpoto, or several variations on this word, is a word meaning "Europe" in several West African languages, including
Kongo language, Kongo (''Mputu'') and
Lingala
Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...
(''Mpótó''), and derives from the word "Portugal". In addition to the continent and people, it may refer to people of European descent, and thus also include places with a majority population of European descent, such as the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand.
Ethnic groups in Tanzania
Indigenous peoples of East Africa
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