The Mundari are a small ethnic group of South Sudan and part of the Karo people one of the Nilotic peoples.
The group is composed of cattle-herders and agriculturalists and are part of Karo people which also includes Bari, Pojulu, Kakwa, Kuku and Nyangwara. Kutuk na Mundari is also the name of their language, which is similar to Kutuk na Kuku, Kutuk na Kakwa, Kutuk na Pojulu, Kutuk na Bari, and Kutuk na Nyangwara.
The traditional Mundari tribal lands are located roughly 75 kilometers north of Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and are centered on the town of Terekeka in the state of Central Equatoria. They are bordered to the north by the Bor Dinka at Maliththoor, Anuet, and to the south by the Bari of Juba 12 km at the Ku'da River. Their lands are bounded on the east by the White Nile and extend west to Laka Ma'di in Western Equatoria state, an area roughly 100 by 75 kilometers in size.
The land, like much of South Sudan, is predominantly flat and marked by occasional isolated large hills. The low-lying land contains many rivers and lakes and is prone to flooding during the rainy season. The soil is predominantly clay-based, causing drainage and water retention problems, and provides a very fertile basis in support of cattle grazing.
The main settlements in Mundariland are Terekeka, Gemaiza, Mangalla, Muni, Tombe, Tindalo, Tali, Rego, Tijor, Rijong, Koweri, and Nyori.
The Mundari, like other nilotic tribes, are very cattle-oriented: cattle serves as food, a form of currency and a mark of status. Marriages are arranged by the prospective groom offering cattle to the bride's family and husbands may take as many wives as they can support. The Mundari engage in perennial cattle raiding wars with the Bor Dinka during the dry season.
Mundari men are known to bathe their hair in cow urine, giving it a yellow-orange color.
The Mundari also cultivate sorghum and catch fish using nets and spears.
In common with other nilotic tribes in Sudan, the Mundari practice ritual scarification as a rite of passage into adulthood for young men. The typical Mundari scar pattern consists of two sets of three parallel lines, each on either side of the forehead, extending in a downward slope and unconnected in the middle.
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The Kakwa people are a Nilotic ethnic group and part of the Karo people found in north-western Uganda, south-western South Sudan, and north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly to the west of the White Nile river.
Equatoria is a region of southern South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile. Originally a province of Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, it also contained most of northern parts of present-day Uganda, including Lake Albert and West Nile. It was an idealistic effort to create a model state in the interior of Africa that never consisted of more than a handful of adventurers and soldiers in isolated outposts.
Central Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. With an area of 43,033 square kilometres (16,615 sq mi), it was the smallest of the original South Sudanese states. Its previous name was Bahr al-Jabal, named after a tributary of the White Nile that flows through the state. It was renamed to its present name of Central Equatoria in the first Interim Legislative Assembly on 1 April 2005 under the government of Southern Sudan. Central Equatoria seceded from Sudan as part of the Republic of South Sudan on 9 July 2011. The state's capital of Juba is also the national capital of South Sudan. The state split into Jubek, Terekeka, and Yei River states on 2 October 2015, but was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020.
The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan. They are spoken across a large area in East Africa, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania. Their speakers are mostly cattle herders living in semi-arid or arid plains.
The Bari are a tribe of Karo, Nilotic people inhabiting South Sudan. The Bari speak the Bari language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Nilotic family.
Bari is the Nilotic language of the Karo people, spoken over large areas of Central Equatoria state in South Sudan, across the northwest corner of Uganda, and into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Kuku language, also called Kutuk na Kuku belongs to the Karo language group, of the Southeastern Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family of the Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. There is no standardized writing system for Kuku; it is sometimes written using the alphabet of a related language such as Bari or Kakwa, with the addition of characters to represent sounds that are not present in the other language. For example, the Bari alphabet can be adjusted for use in Kuku by adding the digraphs gb and kp to represent the voiced and voiceless labiovelar stops, respectively.
Ma'di is a Central Sudanic language found in Uganda and South Sudan. It is one of the Moru–Madi languages. The Madi people refer to their language as Ma'di ti, literally "Ma'di mouth".
The Pojulu tribe is of the savanna lands in the White Nile Valley, in the Equatoria region of South Sudan. They are Nilotic people and part of the Karo people — which also includes Bari, Mundari, Kakwa, Kuku, and Nyangwara.
Mukaya Payam is situated in Lainya County in central Equatoria State, South Sudan; It was a former local administrator head for current Yei river county. The name (Mukaya) originated from Hill located about in central of the Mukaya geographical land, which is around 9 to 12 miles north of Yei river County. The Mukaya differentiates into smaller clans of Dimo (1), Dimo (2), Dimo na Godo, Rume, Kendire, Goromba, Mingale, Jolobong, Pisak, Piyasuk, Bori, Yondoru, Sowaka, Ligi, Girim, Yensot, Migibura, Bono, Muresuku, Morsak, Gokoni, Malari, Worokusuk, Bujang, Mika, Warijang, Gori, Kobo, Nyori, Morsak, Bonga, Mikatom, Jubor, and a few other smaller ones. The population of the Mukaya Payam is estimated to be 15,000 persons.
The Nyangwara are an ethnic group numbering between 25,000 and 30,000 people living in the South Sudan in the state of Central Equatoria. They are part of Karo people which also includes Bari, Mundari, Kakwa, Kuku and Pojulu tribes. They speak Kutuk na Nyangwara.
Karo is a group of Nilotic tribes that straddles the Nile in the Republic of South Sudan and is predominately found in Central Equatoria State, and as far South as Uganda and South-West as Democratic Republic of the Congo. Karo comprises Yangwara, Bari, Pojulu, Kuku, Mundari and Kakwa. They have been erroneously called Bari-speakers by C. G. Seligman, a British ethnologist, whose first contact with Karo was likely with the Bari during British colonial rule in Sudan. Seligman categorised the six ethnic groups as "Bari Speakers" for research purposes as he so for "Dinka Speakers, Nuer Speakers, Lou Speakers, Moru Speakers and the Azande Speakers". These other groups however, have not adopted the categorization coined by G. Seligman for ethnic identification. It is only the "Bari Speakers" who are erroneously defined as speakers of Bari language.
South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a 2018 population of around 11 million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the community and elders acting as problem solvers and adjudicators. Today, most ethnic groups still embrace a cattle culture in which livestock is the main measure of wealth and used for bride wealth.
The history of South Sudan comprises the history of the territory of present-day South Sudan and the peoples inhabiting the region.
Mongalla or Mangalla is a community in Central Equatoria State in South Sudan, on the east side of the Bahr al Jebel or White Nile river. It lies about 75 km by road northeast of Juba. The towns of Terekeka and Bor lie downstream, north of Mongalla.
The Aliab Dinka are a subdivision of the Dinka people of South Sudan. They traditionally lived in an area west of the upper White Nile river. The name is also used to refer to a breed of cattle maintained by the Aliab Dinka people and widespread in the region.
Terekeka County is an administrative division of Terekeka State in South Sudan. The headquarters is the town of Terekeka, lying on the west bank of the White Nile 85 km (53 mi) north of Juba. "Terekeka" means "the forgotten" in local dialect.
Ethnic violence in South Sudan has a long history among South Sudan's varied ethnic groups. South Sudan has 64 tribes with the largest being the Dinkas, who constitute about 35% of the population and predominate in government. The second largest are the Nuers. Conflict is often aggravated among nomadic groups over the issue of cattle and grazing land and is part of the wider Sudanese nomadic conflicts.
Yei River State was a state in South Sudan that existed between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020.
