Bemba people
AbaBemba | |
|---|---|
Flag of the Bemba people | |
A UmuBemba wearing a Tongosa Dance costume | |
| Total population | |
| 6,605,200 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Zambia – 5,864,000 Democratic Republic of the Congo – 696,000 | |
| Languages | |
| Bemba language | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, traditional African religions | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lungu and other Bantu peoples |
| Person | UmuBemba |
|---|---|
| People | AbaBemba, Awemba, BaWemba |
| Language | IchiBemba |
| Country | Kulubemba |
The Bemba belong to a large group of Bantu peoples, primarily in the Northern, Luapula, Muchinga and the northern Central Province of Zambia. The Bemba entered Zambia before 1740 by crossing the Luapula River from Kola. Several other ethnic groups in the northern and Luapula regions of Zambia speak languages which are similar to Bemba, but have different origins. The Bemba people are not indigenous to Copperbelt Province; they arrived there during the 1930s due to employment opportunities in copper mining.
Living in villages of 100 to 200 people, they numbered 250,000 in 1963. The ethnicities known today as the Bemba have a ruling clan known as Abena Ng'andu. The traditional AbaBemba (the Bemba people) of Zambia in Central Africa are Bantus.