Locale Sw Tz

Reference data for the Swahili (Tanzania) locale — endonym Kiswahili (Tanzania), written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: sw-TZ
• ISO 639-1: sw
• ISO 639-3: swa
• Script: Latn (Latin)
• Region: TZ (Tanzania)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 7,000,000
• L2 (additional): 54,000,000
• L1+L2 (total): 61,000,000

Base locale

This is a regional variant of Locale Sw 001 (Swahili), the base/macro locale for this language.

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — i = 1 and v = 0 (e.g. 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Apply Locale Sw 001 with the conventions of Tanzania, where Swahili is the national language and the language of government and education, and where Standard Swahili is the norm.

• Standard: use Kiswahili sanifu as set by BAKITA; local government and education use it consistently, and the Tanzanian terms are often the reference for standard vocabulary.
• Formats: Tanzanian shilling (TSh); dates 17 Oktoba 2026; 24-hour clock; clarify Swahili time versus international time.
• Terminology: use BAKITA-approved terms for government, legal, and technical content.
• Tone: formal and courteous in official text, with polite greetings.

Common pitfalls

• Using Kenyan borrowings or Sheng in official Tanzanian content.
• Ignoring Swahili time.
• The general pitfalls in Locale Sw 001 also apply.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• BAKITA (Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa)