- African Storybook (Saide, Braamfontein, South Africa)
Search under "Read" for Kiswahili books. Since 2013, a South African-based NGO publishes and promotes the dissemination of children's story books in African languages. As of early 2018, there are 310 e-books in Kiswahili in this open access collection.
- Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere: Swahili forum. (Online). -- Leipzig, Germany : Fakultät für Geschichte, Kunst- und Regionalwissenschaften, Universität Leipzig ; Mainz, Germany: Universität Johannes Gutenburg, 1994-.
- BBC World Service in Swahili (British Broadcasting Corporation, London, UK)
- Columbia University: Swahili Language and Culture Acquisitions at Columbia University Libraries, 1979-2023
- Cornell University: Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature (Ithaca, New York)
- ELLAf--Encyclopédie des littératures en langues africaines : Corpus de textes en swahili (LLCAN--Langage, Langues et Cultures d’Afrique Noire, CNRS, Paris, France)
- FSI Language Courses: Swahili : basic course. 2nd ed. (1968) By E.W. Stevick, J.G. Mlela, & F.N. Njenga. [Washington, DC: Foreign Service Institute, Department of State, 1968 ; 560 pages] (USA)
--With accompanying Swahili audio lessons.
- Google Kiswahili
Tafuta Google kwa Kiswahili!
- HakiElimu -- Publications (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
A digital library of free publications in Kiswahili and English, including many government reports and some scholarly books and working papers on development, education, law, and politics. "HakiElimu was established in early 2001 by a group of 13 Tanzanian founder members. The group consists of some of the leading members of the civil society, academic, research, media, human rights and critical gender community in Tanzania."
- H-Swahili Discussion Network (H-Net, Humanities and Social Sciences Online, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan)
A forum for scholars -- in English and in Swahili, with the archive of e-mail discussions and information on how to subscribe.
- Human Rights Watch: Reports in Kiswahili, 2013 to present (New York)
--Including:
- Institute of Kiswahili Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania = Taasisi ya Taalama za Kiswahili, Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
--See also: Swahili Text Collections on the Web -- University of Dar es Salaam below
- Kanga Writings -- Pictures -- History (Hassan Ali, Ottawa, Canada)
A chart of Swahili sayings that often appear on the cotton cloth commonly worn by women in East Africa, especially in Tanzania or coastal Kenya. The chart also includes literal English translation and the deeper meanings.
- Kenya: Radio Citizen (Royal Media Services, Nairobi, Kenya)
Music and news in Kiswahili!
- KIKO--Kiswahili kwa Komputa (African Studies Institute, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia)
A multimedia conversation and grammar textbook. "... six units comprising a total of thirty six lessons covering a range of topics including "Meeting one another", "Knowing numbers", "Family", "Time", "Buying and Selling" and "Education". ...intended to provide the students an illustration of Kiswahili culture and language with a set of conversations between native speakers of Kiswahili."
- KiSwahili Web at UPenn (African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelpia, Pennsylvania)
These web pages include online listening files and texts for beginners.
- LangMedia--Resources for World Languages: Swahili Resources (Five College Center for the Study of Languages, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
The site features Course Guides, Audio Files for
Kiswahili Kwa Kitendo (Zawawi) -and-
Kiswahili (Hinnebusch & Mirza); plus videos and texts for:
--
Swahili in Kenya
--
Swahili in Tanzania
- Mapishi = Halal Cooking Recipes Alhidaaya.Com (Tanzania)
- Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) --via African Books Collective, Oxford, UK.
"Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (MnNP) ni kampuni ya uchapishaji vitabu ya Tanzania iliyoanzishwa mwaka 1991, Dar Es salaam, Tanzania. Baada ya kuongoza Kampuni ya Uchapishaji Vitabu ya Tanzania Publishing House kwa muda wa miaka 18, Bwana Walter Bgoya alianzisha kampuni hii kwa lengo la kuchapisha vitabu vya taaluma ya juu -- yaani kwa vyuo vikuu na taasisi nyingine za elimu ya juu. Katika kutilia mkazo zaidi uchapishaji wa vitabu vya aina hiyo, Mkuki na Nyota imeweza kuchapisha vitabu mbalimbali katika fani ya Sayansi ya Jamii, vikiwamo vitabu vya Sanaa, vitabu vya ziada kwa shule za msingi na sekondari na vitabu vya watoto wadogo."
- Msamiati wa Teknolojia Dijitali = A Lexicon of Key Words in Kiswahili (2021) (Coordinated by Nanjala Nyabola, Nairobi, Kenya)
A 16 page glossary in PDF format: "The Kiswahili Language Translation Project brought together a team of experts from various universities and organizations in a series of virtual conversations and workshops to provide translations for key words in digital vocabulary in Kiswahili."
- Noun Classification in Swahili (Dr. Ellen Contini-Morava, University of Virginia, Charlottesville)
- Radio Deutsche Welle: Idhaa ya Kiswahili (Köln, Germany)
This site offers world and East African news briefs and audio files from radio broadcasts.
- Swahili Hub: Kitovu Cha Kiswahili (The Nation Media Group, Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
Habari za Kenya na Tanzania kwa gazeti na video. Pana sehemu "Maktabani jisomee", video muhimu, na tena picha muhimu.
- Swahili Music Notes (Vusile Terence Silonda, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
"Music Sheets on Swahili Music Notes are uploaded by registered users from all over [Tanzania]...(and the world)."
- Swahili Studies Bibliography. Compiled by Kelly M. Askew ...[et. al] "Works on the Swahili Coast" (Tanzania Studies Association, via Google sites, USA)
- Swahili Text Collections on the Web
- Alhidaaya: Islamic Texts, Lectures, Recipes, Tracts, and Videos (Alhidaaya.Com, Tanzania)
- Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania -- Website ya Taifa (Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania)
- Journal of Language and Popular Culture in Africa: Archives in Popular Swahili [of the Eastern Congo] (Vincent A. de Rooij, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
A set of online texts: Excerpts from Tshibumba Kanda Matulu's "History of Zaire" as told to Johannes Fabian in 1974, in KiSwahili and English translation, plus a few other parallel KiSwahili-English texts and a "Boloki" text from the late 19th century. The collection is in part a supplement to Johannes Fabian's
Remembering the present: painting and popular history in Zaire (published by University of California Press, 1996). The online texts are part of a web site announcing an
electronic journal.
- Maelezo ya njia mpya za kupinga tohara kwa wanawake PDF format (Arnold Groh, Arbeitsstelle für Semiotik = Research Center for Semiotics, Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
- Qurani Takatifu : Swahili Quran Translation (with Introduction). By Sheikh Abdullah Saleh al-Farsy. (Translated c1967) 5th ed. -- Nairobi, Kenya: The Islamic Foundation, [1987] --via The Internet Archive
- Shirika la Habari la Hirondelle, kwenye Mahakama ya Kimataifa inayoshughulukia kesi za mauaji ya Rwanda, Arusha, Tanzania (Hirondelle News Agency, Fondation Hirondelle, Lausanne, Switzerland)
- Shujaaz (Well Told Story, Nairobi, Kenya)
The web site for a radio show and comic book series celebrating youth culture in Kenya. In Sheng, an urban slang dialect of Kiswahili.
- The Story of Swahili. (Online). By John Mugane. -- Athens: Ohio University Press, 2015. Ohio Open Library ; 339 pages in PDF format.
- Swahili forum. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere. -- Leipzig, Germany : Universität Leipzig ; Mainz, Germany: Universität Johannes Gutenburg, 1994-
The current and previous issues in full text of the journal, with articles mostly in English, some in Kiswahili.
- Swahili Proverbs = Kiswahili Methali (Center for African Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
An extensive listing of Swahili proverbs arranged by concept in English, a handful of audio files and texts, and kanga cloth images with Swahili sayings; plus related links.
- Tanzania bila umasikini: kijitabu kinachoelezea kwa lugha rahisi mkakati wa kupunguza umasikini.
-- Arusha, Tanzania ; [United Kingdom] : Hakikazi Catalyst Ltd., 2001."Uandishi kwa lugha nyepesi kwa kiingezeza umefanywa na George Clark ... tunawashuku pia Dr. Y.I. Rubanza na Prof. H. Mwansoko kwa kazi kubwa waliyoifanya kwa kufasiri kwa kiswahili ... na Hakikazi Catalyst inamshukuru sana Ally Masoud kwa mchango wake na uwezo wake wa pekee kwa kuchora"--Shukurani.
- Umoja wa Mataifa Ofisi ya Idara ya Habari: Taarifa ya Ulimwengu Juu ya Haki za Binadamu (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Dept. of Public Information, Switzerland)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Swahili version: in HTML or downloadable PDF.
- UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning: Kwa nini na kwa namna gani Afrika inapaswa kuwekeza katika lugha za Kiafrika na elimu kwa lugha nyingi. (2010). Haki zote zimehifadhiwa na Adama Ouane na Christine Glanz. -- Hamburg, Germany: Taasisi ya Elimu kwa Maisha Yote ya UNESCO, imeandaliwa kwa kushirikiana na Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2010. 75 pages in PDF format
- University of Dar es Salaam -- Journals on Swahili Language and Literature (Tanzania)
- UCLA Modern Endangered Archives Program -- Swahili Texts (Los Angeles, California)
- "McMillan Memorial Library Newspaper Collection" (Nairobi, Kenya)
A digital library of Kenyan newspapers in English (1947-2005) and Kiswahili (from 1960s and 1970s), especially Baraza and Taifa Kenya.
- "Ustadh Mau Digital Archive" [Lamu, Kenya]
"Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulkadir, locally known as Ustadh Mau, is an eminent poet and imam from Lamu island, Kenya. His private library houses Swahili Muslim manuscript poetry in ajami script, and booklets and memoirs from the Middle East and India. Besides manuscript and print material, his library treasures include audio cassettes of his Friday sermons, delivered since 1986 from the oldest surviving mosque on Lamu."
- University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies Library--Swahili Manuscripts Project (London, UK)
- Tusikilize Kiswahili = Let's hear Kiswahili -na- Tusome Kiswahili = Let's Read Kiswahili (Prof. Alwiya S. Omar ...[et al.], University of Pennsylvania, African Studies Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Introductory video lessons (with vocabulary, definitions, & crosswords) and selected readings, (with vocabulary & word definitions).
- Udadisi: Rethinking in Action (Dr. Chambi Chachage et al., Howard University, Washington, DC ; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
A Kiswahili and English language web site featuring commentary on the politics of culture, development, governance, and other issues in Tanzania, other parts of East Africa, and elsewhere in the world.
- United Nations: Mkataba wa Kimataifa wa Haki za Watu wenye Ulemavu & Mkataba wa Nyongeza (2006) = Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Nairobi, Kenya; New York, USA)
- United Nations. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Taarifa ya Ulimwengu juu yaa Haki za Binadamu Universal Declaration of Human Rights(Geneva, Switzerland)
- University of Helsinki Language Corpus Server: Swahili Computer Corpora -- Information (Helsinki, Finland)
- NOTE: Only general information is available about the database and archive of Swahili language texts; none of the texts are accessible without research affiliation. See also:
- Helsinki Corpus of Swahili -- Introduction
- University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (London, UK)
- SOAS Library: Swahili Manuscripts Project
- A digitized selection from the SOAS archives. "The collection includes about 450 manuscripts dating from 1790 to the late 20th century. The SOAS manuscripts originate from the Swahili coast and island archipelagos, in particular from Kilwa, Lamu, Mombasa, Pate, Siu and Zanzibar. The earliest manuscripts were collected in 19th century Mombasa by the scholar and member of the Church Missionary Society William Taylor and subsequently by scholars, editors and academics (including JWT Allen, William Hitchen, Jan Knappert, Alice Werner, Wilfred Whiteley, and Sheikh Yahya Ali Omar). SOAS Library acquired its first Swahili manuscript in 1920 and has continued to acquire manuscripts whenever possible since."
- Web Resources for African Languages Swahili (2008) (Jouni F. Maho, Partille, Sweden)
A collection of links to sites with e-books, full text journal articles, theses, and working papers, and other resources...especially on Swahili linguistics. NOTE: updates to this site have been suspended.
- The World Bank: Programu ya Maarifa ya Asili = Indigenous Knowledge Program, Five Year-End Report (Washington, DC)
- ZMO--Zentrum Moderner Orient: Baraza la Kiswahili la Berlin (July 2020) (Berlin, Germany)
"Baraza with Hassan Mwakimako (Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Pwani University Kilifi, Kenya), Nandera Mhando (Head of Department, Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Dar es Salaam), Nicholas Githuku (Assistant Professor of History, Philosophy and Anthropology, York College, CUNY, New York), and Neema Kasabo (Lecturer for Swahili Language, Freie Universitait, Berlin). Hosted and introduced by Kai Kresse (Vice-Director ZMO & Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin) and Lutz Diegner (Lecturer of Swahili, Humboldt Universität Berlin)."