Languages
The languages are, according to Bastin, Coupez, & Mann (1999), with Sumbwa added per Nurse (2003):
- Gungu (E10)
- Bwari (Kabwari) (D50)
- Konzo (D40): Konjo, Nande, ? Kobo
- Shi–Havu (D50): Hunde, Havu, Shi, Tembo, Nyindu, Fuliiru
- Rwanda-Rundi (D60): Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Shubi, Hangaza, Ha, Vinza
- Nyoro–Ganda (E10): Ganda, Nyankore, Nyoro, Tooro, Hema, Chiga, Soga, Gwere, West Nyala, Ruli
- (See also Rutara languages, Runyakitara language, Nkore-Kiga)
- Haya–Jita (E20): Haya–Rashi, Talinga-Bwisi, Zinza, Kerebe (Kerewe), Jita – Kara – Kwaya–Ruri, Nyambo, Subi
- Masaba–Luhya (E30): Masaba (incl. Bukusu), Luhya proper, Nyore (or Nyole in Kenya), Nyole (or Olunyole in Uganda), Samia–Songa, Marachi, Khayo
- Logooli–Kuria (E40): Logooli (Luhya), Ngurimi, Ikizu–Sizaki/Shashi, Suba, Suba-Simbiti, Kabwa, Singa, Idaxo-Isuxa-Tiriki (Luhya), Gusii (Kisii), Kuria (Simbiti, Hacha, Surwa, Sweta), Zanaki, Ikoma, ?Ware
- Sumbwa (F20)
The codes in parentheses are Guthrie's original geographic classification.
Maho (2009) adds Yaka. Kobo was recognized later. It's said to be about equidistant between Nande and Hunde, so it's not clear where it should be in the tree above.
Glottolog (2022) separates Nyole in Uganda (and its dialects: Hadyo or Luhadyo, Menya, Sabi or Lusabi, and Wesa or Luwesa) from the E30 group (Masaba-Luhya) into an unclassified subgroup within a "Greater Luyia" group containing the Logoo-Kuria (E40) group. Beside this, it does not consider this older geographic classification relevant for its ongoing classification based on more recent linguistic studies, and uses four different subgroups (Greater Luhya, West Nyanza, East Nyanza, and Western Lakes Bantu), keeping Gungu (E10) separate from them.
The Bantu languages are a language family of about 600 languages that are spoken by the Bantu peoples of Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
The Luo, are several ethnically and linguistically related Nilotic ethnic groups that inhabit an area ranging from Egypt and Sudan to South Sudan and Ethiopia, through Northern Uganda and eastern Congo (DRC), into western Kenya, and the Mara Region of Tanzania. Their Luo languages belong to the western branch of the Nilotic language family.
The Abagusii are a Bantu ethnic group and nation indigenous to Kisii and Nyamira counties of former Nyanza, as well as parts of Kericho and Bomet counties of the former Rift Valley province of Kenya.
The Luhya are a Bantu people and the second largest ethnic group in Kenya. The Luhya belong to the larger linguistic stock known as the Bantu. The Luhya are located in western Kenya and Uganda. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically united clans. Once known as the Kavirondo, multiple small tribes in North Nyanza came together under the new name Baluhya between 1950 and 1960. The Bukusu are the largest Luhya subtribe and account for almost 50% of the entire Luhya population, dominating other Luhya subtribes. They live in both Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia counties.
The Suba (Abasuba) are a heterogeneous Bantu group of people in Kenya with an amalgamation of clans drawn from their main tribes Ganda people, Luhya people, and Soga who speak the Suba language that is closely similar to the Ganda language spare some lexical items borrowed from [[Luo. Their population is estimated at 157,787, with substantial fluent speakers. They migrated to Kenya from Uganda and settled on the two Lake Victoria islands of Rusinga and Mfangano, others also settled on the mainland areas including Gembe, Gwassi, Kaksingri of Suba South and Migori and are believed to be the last tribe to have settled in Kenya. The immigrants to present-day Subaland trace their ancestry among Ganda people, Luhya people, Soga people, and the Luo people. The evidence supporting this is the fact that some Suba groups speak languages similar to Luganda, Lusoga and the Luhya. The Suba groups tracing ancestry among the Kenyan tribes preceded those groups from Uganda in present-day Subaland and are the numerous and influential ones. Those groups from Uganda are mostly concentrated in Rusinga and Mfangano islands with small pockets of them being found in mainland Kenya. Linguistically, the Suba are highly influenced by the neighbouring Luo, to the point of a language shift having taken place among large portions of the mainland Suba. As a result, their own language has been classified as endangered. Despite this language shift, the Suba have kept a distinct ethnic identity. The Rusinga Festival is held in December of every year as a cultural festival to celebrate and preserve Suba culture and language.
Nyanza Province was one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces before the formation of the 47 counties under the 2010 constitution. Six counties were organised in the area of the former province.
The Gisu people, or Bamasaba people of Elgon, are a Bantu tribe and Bantu-speaking ethnic group of the Masaba people in eastern Uganda, closely related to the Bukusu people of Kenya. Bamasaba live mainly in the Mbale District of Uganda on the slopes of Mount Elgon. The Bagisu are estimated to be about 1,646,904 people making up 4.9% of the total population according to the 2014 National Census of Uganda.
The Luo of Kenya and Tanzania are a Nilotic ethnic group native to western Kenya and the Mara Region of northern Tanzania in East Africa. The Luo are the fourth-largest ethnic group (10.65%) in Kenya, after the Kikuyu (17.13%), the Luhya (14.35%) and the Kalenjin (13.37%). The Tanzanian Luo population was estimated at 1.1 million in 2001 and 3.4 million in 2020. They are part of a larger group of related Luo peoples who inhabit an area ranging from South Sudan, southwestern Ethiopia, northern and eastern Uganda, southwestern Kenya, and northern Tanzania.
Kavirondo is the former name of the region surrounding Kavirondo Gulf as well as of two native peoples living there under the regime of British East Africa. Broadly, this was defined as those who dwelt in the valley of the Nzoia River, on the western slopes of Mount Elgon, and along the northeast coast of Victoria Nyanza.
Gwere, or Lugwere, is the language spoken by the Gwere people (Bagwere), a Bantu people found in the eastern part of Uganda. It has a close dialectical resemblance to Soga and Ganda, which neighbour the Gwere.
The Kuria people (also known as the AbaKurya, are a Bantu community in Tarime District of Mara Region in Tanzania and southern Kenya. Their homeland is bounded on the east by the Migori River and on the west by the Mara River estuary. Traditionally a pastoral and farming community, the Kuria grow maize, beans and cassava as food crops and coffee and maize as cash crops.
The Haya are a Bantu ethnic group based in Kagera Region, northwestern Tanzania, on the western side of Lake Victoria. With over one million people, it is estimated the Haya make up approximately 4% of the population of Tanzania. Historically, the Haya have had a complex kingship-based political system. Agriculture, particularly banana farming, is central to Haya economic life. They are credited with the independent development of carbon steel dating to 2000 years ago using pre-heating techniques.
Migori county 044, also known as Suna-Migori, is a multi-ethnic municipal town which acts as the capital of Migori County, Kenya. The town is located 63 kilometers south of Kisii town and 22 km north of the Tanzanian border. The Migori Metropolitan area consists of Migori municipality and the adjacent smaller towns. The area has three constituencies, namely Suna East, Suna West and Uriri, with a total population of 393,012 according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics-sponsored national census of 2019. The neighboring town/constituency of Awendo has 96,872 and Kuria East (Sirare) has 117, 290. In 2010, The Star newspaper reported that the town (proper) had a population of approximately 100,000 people.
The 250 or so "Narrow Bantu languages" are conventionally divided up into geographic zones first proposed by Malcolm Guthrie (1967–1971). These were assigned letters A–S and divided into decades ; individual languages were assigned unit numbers, and dialects further subdivided. This coding system has become the standard for identifying Bantu languages; it was a practical way to distinguish many ambiguously named languages before the introduction of ISO 639-3 coding, and it continues to be widely used. Only Guthrie's Zone S is (sometimes) considered to be a genealogical group. Since Guthrie's time a Zone J has been set up as another possible genealogical group bordering the Great Lakes.
The Bantu peoples are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native African ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The languages are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Southern Africa.
Thimlich Ohinga is a complex of stone-built ruins in Migori county, Nyanza Kenya, in East Africa. It is the largest one of 138 sites containing 521 stone structures that were built around the Lake Victoria region in Kenya. These sites are highly clustered. The main enclosure of Thimlich Ohinga has walls that are 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) in thickness, and 1–4.2 m (3.3–13.8 ft) in height. The structures were built from undressed blocks, rocks, and stones set in place without mortar. The densely packed stones interlock. The site is believed to date to the 15th century or earlier.
Esau Khamati Sambayi Oriedo was a Kenyan Christian evangelist, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur and a trade unionist, a veteran of World War I and World War II as a soldier in the King's African Rifles (KAR), a barrister, and an anti-colonialism activist. In 1923 he singlehandedly altered the Christian church landscape in Bunyore and the rest of North Nyanza region—in the present-day western and Nyanza regions of Kenya. He was an indomitable adept all-around crusader for a myriad of polygonal causes—the rights of the aboriginal peoples, a stalwart advocate for the syncretism of Christianity and traditional African cultural moralities, and a literacy champion—in the British East African Protectorate & Colony of Kenya, during the period that span more than five decades of the colonial and postcolonial epoch.
The Rutara or Runyakitara languages are a group of closely related Bantu languages spoken in the African Great Lakes region. They include languages such as Runyoro, Runyankore and Ruhaya. The language group takes its name from the Empire of Kitara.
The West Nyanza languages are a subgroup of the Great Lakes Bantu languages spoken in Uganda, Tanzania and the DRC.
The Nyindu people, are an ethnic group predominantly found along the Ulindi River in the north, west, and south, as well as the Kilungutwe River, located in the Mwenga Territory in the southern part of South Kivu Province in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Nyindu people belong to the Bantu ethnic group and linguistic family, which is among the most populous and diverse ethnic groups in the South Kivu Province. They are known for their traditional agricultural practices, which include cultivating crops such as maize, cassava, and beans. They also engage in animal husbandry, particularly with cattle. The Nyindu are organized into clans, and each clan has a chief who serves as a leader and arbitrator.
