{{Short description, Traditional name for the part of the East African coast facing Zanzibar Mrima_Coast

Mrima or Mrima Coast is the traditional name for the part of the East African coast facing

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

. The inhabitants were often called "Wamrima" or Mrima people even though they could belong to different tribes and language groups. The sources give different definitions about the borders of the coastal stretch. Generally the Mrima consisted only of a coastal strip of a width of two days travel, i.e. about 20 miles or 30 km.

Ludwig Krapf Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the firs ...

, who collected his information at Mombasa between 1844 and 1852, wrote that the Wamrima began on the northern side with the Vumba people, the speakers of the Kivumba dialect of Swahili, who lived in the area of Shimoni, opposite Wasini Island, continued southwards until the Usambara Hills and "the land of Mrima". A.C. Madan who collected his material at Zanzibar around 1890, described Mrima being the area between Wasini and Kipumbwi at the mouth of the Msangasi River, about 25 km south of the Tanzanian town of

Pangani Pangani (''Mji wa Pangani'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is a historic town and capital of Pangani District in the Tanga Region of Tanzania. The town lies south of the city of Tanga, Tanzania, Tanga, at the mouth of the Pangani River in whic ...

. Madan thought the name Mrima could derive from a variation of the Swahili word"mlima" for hill, mountain, thus denoting the hilly country rising behind the immediate coast. Later authors described a wider use of the name on the southern side.

Stigand Stigand (died 1072) was an Anglo-Saxon churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England who became Archbishop of Canterbury. His birth date is unknown, but by 1020 he was serving as a royal chaplain and advisor. He was named Bishop of Elmham in 1043 ...

for example described the Kimrima dialect reaching from

Vanga The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family o ...

(southern Kenya) until the neighborhood of

Kilwa Kilwa Kisiwani ('Kilwa Island') is an island, national historic site, and Hamlet (place), hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region, Lindi in southern Ta ...

. In southern Kenya there is a village and a small mountain called Mrima about 20 km north of

Kwale County Kwale County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kwale, although Ukunda is the largest town. Kwale County has an estimated population of 866,820. Kwale is mainly an inland county, but has a coastline south of ...

. Fungu Mrima (also Fungu Marima) is a coral reef in the

Mafia Channel The Mafia Channel is a strait in the Pwani Region, Tanzania, Africa. Geography The Mafia Channel stretches in a roughly north/south direction between the Rufiji River estuary and Mafia Island. The deltas at the mouth of the Rufiji River extrude to ...

between the mainland and

Mafia Island Mafia Island or Chole Shamba (''Kisiwa cha Mafia'', in Swahili) is an island of The Mafia Archipelago located in Mafia District in the southern Pwani Region of Tanzania across the Mafia Channel. The island is the third largest in Tanzanian ...

.Cf
Fungu Marima
= Fungu Mrima

References

Coasts Swahili people Geography of Tanzania Geography of Kenya