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The Bantu
The Bantu are an ethnic and
linguistic group, numbering about
120 million, which apart from the
extreme south-west, inhabits most of
the African continent south of the
Congo river. Few cultural
generalizations can be made as far as
the Bantu are concerned, and the
classification is primarily linguistic,
there being almost 100 Bantu
languages, including Luganda, Zulu,
and Swahili.
The origins of the Bantu are
believed to lie in Cameroon. In
about 1000 BC, the Bantu began a
diaspora that was probably one of
the largest in human history, and
which possibly continued until the
3rd or 4th centuries AD. One group
went east and south into Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, and southern Africa
and another turned west towards
Angola, Namibia, and north-
western Botswana, the first
becoming the Shona, Xhosa,
Kikuyu, and Zulu, noted for their
large herds of cattle, while the
western
diaspora
include the
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INLAND AFRICA
Words to Understand
Diaspora:
The dispersion or spread of any people from their
original homeland.
Expulsion:
The action or process of forcing someone to leave
a place.
Status-conscious:
Aware or excessively interested in one's social
status.