Tonga, Thonga or Tsonga people 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.
