Vezo people
Vezo fisherman | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1,200 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Toliara Majunga (Minority) | |
| Languages | |
| Sakalava Malagasy, Vezo dialect, French | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity and Ancestral religion |
The Vezo is a Sakalava Malagasy term for Bajo, the semi-nomadic maritime or sea people from Central–Eastern Indonesia (esp. Flores Sea) who settled in southern Madagascar. They speak a variety of Malagasy dialect continuum, part of the larger Austronesian. They currently populate most of the littoral zone along Madagascar's west coast between Toliara and Mahajanga.
"Vezo" literally means 'the people who fish', but also has been known to mean 'to struggle with the sea'.