People / group

Shuwa Arabs

The Shuwa Arabs are an Arabic-speaking people of the Lake Chad region, living in north-eastern Nigeria, northern Cameroon and Chad, and a branch of the wider Baggara Arabs. They descend from Arab groups who moved west across the Sahel over several centuries from about the 14th century, and are mainly cattle herders. In Borno they have long lived alongside the Kanuri, and their dialect is known as Shuwa or Chadian Arabic.

Shuwa Arabs
Image: YACOUB DOUNGOUS · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Dikwa Emirate

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Shuwa Arabs. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shuwa-arabs
MLA
“Shuwa Arabs.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shuwa-arabs. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Shuwa Arabs.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shuwa-arabs.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Shuwa Arabs’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shuwa-arabs (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻