Gogo, also called Wagogo , a Bantu-speaking people inhabiting central Tanzania. They live in a portion of the East African Rift System. The land is bounded by hills to the east and south, the Bahi Swamp to the west, and the Masai Steppe to the north.
“Gogo” is a sobriquet given by outsiders—probably Nyamwezi traders following the major east–west caravan route across Gogo territory to coastal ports—to people who among themselves consider clan affiliation as the primary social identity. Gogo clans claim descent from surrounding peoples in all directions, a factor that precludes broad political cohesion. The northern Gogo (who think of themselves as Gogo) consider the southern Gogo to be members of the Hehepeople, the ethnic group to the south; southern Gogo, however, also consider themselves Gogo, and consider the northern Gogo to be members of the Sandaweethnic group to the north. Such confusion is compounded by the fact that the Gogo share much of their material culture and several methods of adapting to their harsh environment with Nilotic Baraguyu and Maasai and have been taken for the former by outsiders and denigrated by Westerners for “imitating” the latter.
The Gogo language is closely related to that of the Kaguru to the northeast, although culturally the two groups differ greatly. Distinctive to Gogo material culture are the qualities of their smithing and metalwork, beadwork, dance and musical styles, and facial markings.