Maputaland-Lubombo region is a geographic area in Southern Africa that spans parts of South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique. It includes the low-lying coastal plains of Maputaland in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and the eastern highlands of the Lubombo Mountains along the border with Eswatini.Harries, Patrick (1994). Work, Culture and Identity: Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa, c.1860–1910, Page 1-40, Heinemann. . The region has historically been inhabited by diverse Embo communities, including Nguni-speaking peoples and coastal groups such as the Tembe and Nyaka.Matsebula, J. S. M. (1972). A History of Swaziland. 3rd edition. Longman Publishers: South Africa. pp. 8–9. Historically, it was inhabited by communities belonging to the Embo ancestral grouping, including early Embo-Nguni settlers and later branches such as the Tsonga-Nguni, Tembe-Thonga and Embo-Dlamini.Sikhondze, Bonginkosi Bhutana. State Within A State: The History of the Evolution of the Mamba clan of Swaziland Transafrican Journal of History, vol. 15, 1986, pp. 144–63. JSTOR. Accessed 22 Dec. 2025.
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