Shona people
Sign in to saveAlso known as Mashona, Maswina, Makalaka, Makalanga, Makaranga
Bantu ethnic group native to southern Africa
Key facts
- Zimbabwe
- 13 million (2019)
- Mozambique
- 2.3 million
- South africa
- 1–2 million (2020)
- Zambia
- 30,200
- United kingdom
- 200,000 (2011)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- ethnic group
- Native language
- Shona
- Country
- South Africa
- Population
- 10800000
- Image
- Shona witch doctor (Zimbabwe).jpg
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Shona people
- topic's main category
- Category:Shona
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Shona people (/ˈʃoʊnə/), also/formerly known as the Karanga, are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population, as well as Mozambique, South Africa, and worldwide diaspora. There are six major Shona language/dialect clusters: Manyika, Karanga, Zezuru, Korekore, Kalanga, and Ndau. The Shona make up at least 70% of the population in Zimbabwe with the Ndebele forming a minority (20%). They speak the Shona language, called chiShona. They migrated from the Congo River basin towards the end of the first millenium and settled in the present day Zimbabwe, where they established a great civilization.
Classification
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Shona people” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.