Mwanga, or Namwanga, is a Bantu language

Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...

 spoken by the Namwanga in the Northern Province

Northern Province, Zambia

Northern Province is one of Zambia's nine provinces. It covers approximately one fifth of Zambia in land area. The provincial capital is Kasama. The province is made up of 12 districts, namely Kasama , Chilubi, Isoka, Chinsali, Kaputa, Luwingu, Mbala, Mporokoso, Mpika, Mpulungu, Mungwi and Nakonde...

 of Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

 (mainly in the districts of Isoka

Isoka

Isoka is a town located in the Northern Province of Zambia near the borders with Tanzania and Malawi. The district is populated mainly by Winamwanga, but the Wiwa, the Mambwe, the Nyika and the Tumbuka are also found here....

 and Nakonde) and in southwestern Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

. In 1993 the Namwanga population was estimated to number 256,000, with 169,000 residing in Zambia and 87,000 in Tanzania.

The Namwanga language is similar to the Mambwe language spoken by the Mambwe

Mambwe

The Mambwe are an ethnic and linguistic group based in southwestern Tanzania and northeastern Zambia. In 1987 the Mambwe population in Tanzania was estimated to number 63,000 . The number of Mambwe in Zambia has not been independently estimated, though the combined number of Mambwe and Lungu in...

 people of Mbala

Mbala

Mbala is Zambia’s most northerly large town and seat of Mbala District, occupying a strategic location close to the border with Tanzania and controlling the southern approaches to Lake Tanganyika, 40 km by road to the north-east, where the port of Mpulungu is located. It had a population of about...

 and Mpulungu

Mpulungu

Mpulungu is a town in the Northern Province of Zambia, at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.From Mpulungu, boats reach DR Congo, Tanzania and Burundi...

 districts and the Lungu people also found in Isoka. Other similar smaller peoples include the Lambya

Lambya

The Lambya, also known as the Nkoya, are an ethnic and linguistic group based along the border of northwestern Malawi and southwestern Tanzania. A minority also exists in Zambia...

s, the Nyikas

Mijikenda

The Mijikenda are the nine ethnic groups along the coast of Kenya, from the border of Somalia in the north to the border of Tanzania in the south...

and the Wandyas.