Sumbawa people
Tau Samawa | |
|---|---|
A Sumbawa family on the stairs of their home, pre-1943. | |
| Total population | |
| 600,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Indonesia (Sumbawa Island) | |
| Languages | |
| Sumbawa language, Indonesian language | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bimanese people, Balinese people, Sasak people, Savu people |
Sumbawa or Samawa people are an ethnic group of people native to the western and central region of Sumbawa Island, which comprises West Sumbawa Regency and Sumbawa Regency. The Sumbawa people refer themselves as Tau Samawa people and their language is the Sumbawa language. Neither the Bimanese nor the Sumbawa people have alphabets of their own; they use the alphabets of the Bugis and the Malay language indifferently. The majority of the Sumbawa people practice Islam. The Sumbawa people once established their own government which became the Sumbawa Sultanate and lasted until 1931.