The Mpoto are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the Mbinga

Mbinga

Mbinga is one of the 5 districts of the Ruvuma Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North by the Iringa Region, to the East by the Songea Rural and Songea Urban Districts, to the South by Mozambique and to the West by Lake Nyasa....

 District of Ruvuma Region

Ruvuma Region

Ruvuma is a region in Tanzania. It is named after the Ruvuma River which forms most of its southern boundary with Mozambique. It is also bordered to the North by the Morogoro Region, to the Northeast by the Lindi Region, to the East by the Mtwara Region and to the Northwest by the Iringa Region. ...

 in southern Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, along the northeast shore of Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...

. In 1977 the Mpoto population was estimated to number 80,000 http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TZ.

Mpoto, or several variations on this word, is a word meaning "Europe" in several West African languages, including Kongo

Kongo language

The Kongo language, or Kikongo, is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola. It is a tonal language and formed the base for Kituba, a Bantu creole and lingua franca...

 (Mputu) and Lingala

Lingala language

Lingala, or Ngala, is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo , as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic. It has over 10 million speakers...

(Mpótó), and derives from the word "Portugal". In addition to referring to the continent and people, it may be used to refer to people of European descent, and thus also include places with a majority population of European descent, such as the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand.