The Mambwe and Lungu peoples living at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania and Zambia speak a common language with minor dialectical differences.
Perhaps half of the Fipa people to their north speak it as a native language.
Mambwe-Lungu is spoken by the people of Rukwa region, southern Sumbawanga town in Tanzania.
The language is also spoken in Mankato, Mpulungu and Senga district of Zambia.
It has close affinities with languages spoken by other Tanganyikan people like Pimbwe, Rungwa and Namwanga.