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المسيرية | |
---|---|
![]() The 'Baggara Belt', a distribution area of the Baggara Arabs, Messiria is located in its central part, in southern Sudan near the border with South Sudan. | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 500,000–1,000,000 |
![]() | few in number |
Languages | |
Sudanese Arabic and Chadian Arabic | |
Religion | |
Sunni Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Baggara Arab tribes |
The Messiria (Arabic: المسيرية), also known as Misseriya Arabs, are a branch of the Baggara ethnic grouping of Arab tribes.[1] Their language is primarily Sudanese Arabic, when Chadian Arabic is also spoken by a small number of them in Darfur. The numbers is varies, perhaps between 500,000 and 1 million in western Sudan, extending into eastern Chad. They are primarily nomadic cattle herders and their journeys are dependent upon the seasons of the year. The use of the term Baggara carries negative connotations as slave raiders, so they prefer to be called instead Messiria.