Nyakyusa people

The Nyakyusa (also called the Sokile, Ngone or Nkone) are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group who live in the mountains of southern Mbeya Region of Tanzania and the Northern Region of Malawi. They speak the Nyakyusa language, a member of the Bantu language family. In 1993, the Nyakyusa population was estimated to be 1,050,000, with 750,000 living in Tanzania. The Nyakyusa are colonising people where success and survival depended on individual effort.

Historically, they were called the 'Ngone' below the Songwe River in British Nyasaland, and 'Nyakyusa' above the river in German territory. The two groups were identical in language and culture, so much so that the Germans referred to the Nyakyusa region above the Songwe River and people as 'Kone', at least until 1935.