Shangaan

Tsonga

Vatsonga
Traditional location of Tsonga people with dialectical differences and before the borders between South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe were erected and the people separated.
Total population
(5,370,000 (late 20th-century estimate))
Regions with significant populations
Mozambique	3,100,000
South Africa	2,100,000
Swaziland	27,000
Zimbabwe	5,000
Languages
Tsonga, Portuguese, English
Religion
African Traditional Religion, Christianity

Tonga, Thonga or Tsonga people (Tsonga: Vatsonga) and languages span most of southern Africa, notable countries being South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In these countries, there are regions where one or more languages and/or dialects are more dominant. For example, in South Africa, Tsonga people are mainly found in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, with smaller populations in North-West and Free State. Within these provinces, there are towns and cities where they are most prevalent, although this is continually changing in the new South Africa as black people can now move freely. Most or all of southern Mozambique is inhabited by Tsonga people, variously named as Copi, Rhonga, Ndzawu, Tonga, Shangana, and Tshwa. Historically and currently the Tsonga people in Mozambique are between the Limpopo and Save rivers. Their density lowers between Save and Zambezi, where the Tsonga/Shona group of Ndau starts to dominate. The provinces are Maputo, Maputo City, Inhambane, Manica, Gaza, and Sofala.

The Tsonga grouping is sometimes known as Tswa-Ronga. "Double-barrel" names have caused more problems and confusion in the past, instead of fostering union. The creation of the Gazankulu Bantustan in Apartheid South Africa, led to a social cohesion drive between a former invading clan, the Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe, and the original Tsonga speakers, who had fled Mozambique when the Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe first arrived. This brought about the name Vatsonga-Machangana or Tsonga/Shangaan. The Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe went to what is now South Africa after 1897, whereas the Tsonga group went there from 1820. The Gaza-Ngoni-Ndwandwe later tried to claim to be Tsonga kings in South Africa, when in fact, they had never ruled the Tsonga in what later became South Africa. For this reason, the name Tsonga should be preferred over Tswa-Ronga. For example, the largest clan among the Tswa is the Hlengwe clan, and so Tswa-Ronga could have easily been Hlengwe-Ronga. At the same time, the largest clan among the Ronga is the Tembe, and as such, Tswa-Ronga could have been easily Tswa-Tembe. In light of that, the more recent form of Thonga, which is Tsonga, is more preferred as it refers to the entire ethnic group, and is not likely to create dominant clans in the future. This also means that the name Tsonga includes the Chopi, Tonga and Ndau, and is beyond the Tsonga language heavily influenced by the Dzonga dialect.