Ngbandi people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~300,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo Central African Republic | |
| Languages | |
| Ngbandi (native), Sango, Lingala, French | |
| Religion | |
| predominantly Christianity, minority Islam |
The Ngbandi are an ethnic group from the region of the upper Ubangi River, located in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and southern Central African Republic. They traditionally speak the Ngbandi language, which is part of the Ubangian language family.
Culture
[edit]Historically the Ngbandi were subsistence farmers, and many still grow maize, manioc, and other food crops. Until recently, some of their subsistence depended on traditional hunting and gathering.[citation needed]
The Ngbandi were once known as warriors, and some of the most prized African knives and lances were made by their craftsmen. This culture and others of Sudan had close connections, as expressed by shared usage of a musical instrument, a kind of harp, whose form is distinctive to this area.[2] Traditionally, they consider twins to be ayafo te angbo (lit. 'children of snakes').[3]
Population
[edit]The Ngbandi people have a population of around 300,000 people, mostly divided between speakers of the Northern Ngbandi and Southern Ngbandi languages. The Ngbandi language is a dialect continuum consisting of several varieties spoken in the upper region of the Ubangi River on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.[1]
Notable people
[edit]- Mobutu Sese Seko – president and dictator of Zaire
References
[edit]- 1 2 Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol. 11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 58–444. doi:10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN 978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID 133888593.
- ↑ "Ngbandi". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ↑ Viney, William (2021). Twins: Superstitions and Marvels, Fantasies and Experiments. Reaktion Books. p. 93. ISBN 9781789144093.
