SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/sw-mia-hundred

A price tag says 'shilingi mia moja'. What does 'mia' mean?

One hundred. Mia moja is 100.

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  1. Ten
  2. One hundred ✔
  3. One thousand

Why: Mia means hundred, so mia moja is 100 and mia mbili is 200. Kumi is ten and elfu is thousand. Hundreds come up all the time with shilling prices.

Huh, didn't know that: Unlike English, the number comes after the word: mia tatu is literally 'hundred three', 300.

The dad joke
I gave the vendor mia moja and a smile. He kept the shillings but gave back the smile.
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References

Answer: One hundred. Mia means hundred, so mia moja is 100 and mia mbili is 200. Kumi is ten and elfu is thousand. Hundreds come up all the time with shilling prices.

  1. Northwestern University, Elementary Swahili: Nominal Numbers nulib-oer.github.io/swahili/topics/numbers
    mia moja 100
    Checked 2026-10-12.
  2. University of Wisconsin-Madison LCTL Resources: Twende Sokoni wisc.pb.unizin.org/lctlresources/chapter/twende-sokoni
    Kilo moja ni shilingi mia mbili.
    Checked 2026-10-12.

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