The Chagga (also spelled Chaga or Shaka) are a Bantu-speaking people who inhabit the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is in northern Tanzania near the Kenyan border. They are descended from various groups who migrated from all directions into the once forest covered foothills. While the Chagga are Bantu-speakers, they do not speak an undifferentiated language but rather a cluster of related dialects. These dialects are related to Kamba, which is spoken in the northeast along with other languages spoken in the east such as Dabida and Pokomo.

The Chagga are the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. Although the Chagga are referred to as a tribe, their land is traditionally divided into a number of politically independent chiefdoms with a relatively egalitarian social system. The Chagga are closely related, culturally, to the Pare, Taveta and Teita peoples. They follow a patrilineal system of descent and inheritance. The Chagga subsist primarily by agriculture, using irrigation on terraced fields and manure to develop the fields. Although bananas are their staple food, they also cultivate various crops including yams, beans, and maize. The Chagga are best known for their Arabica coffee, which is exported to American and European markets, resulting in coffee being their primary cash crop.

Sample Name: Chagga

Sample UID: SA001806P

Sample Description:This sample is comprised of 45 Chagga living in and around Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The mean age of the subjects is 27.91 years. All participants were born in th Mount Kilimanjaro region and both their parents originate from the same area. Screening for admixtures and mixed marriages was done through questionnaires and counseling. Sampling of two or more individuals from the same family was mostly avoided to maximize variation. This sample was collected by S. Kajuna and S. Kungulilo.

Number of Chromosomes: 64

Relation to Other Samples: Subset of SA000487T

References:
- Verdu P, Barreiro LB, Patin E, Gessain A, Cassar O, Kidd JR, Kidd KK, Behar DM, Froment A, Heyer E, Sica L, Casanova J-L, Abel L, Quintana-Murci L. "Evolutionary Insights into the High Worldwide Prevalence of MBL2 Deficiency Alleles". Hum Mol Genet. 15:2650-2658. (2006) Online citation.

Sample Name: Chagga

Sample UID: SA000487T

Sample Description:This sample is comprised of 45 Chagga living in and around Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The mean age of the subjects is 27.91 years. All participants were born in th Mount Kilimanjaro region and both their parents originate from the same area. Screening for admixtures and mixed marriages was done through questionnaires and counseling. Sampling of two or more individuals from the same family was mostly avoided to maximize variation. This sample was collected by S. Kajuna and S. Kungulilo.

Number of Chromosomes: 90

Relation to Other Samples:

References:
- Kenneth K. Kidd et al. "Data unpublished".

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