Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ETHNIC GROUPS
The Bemba, whose traditional homeland is in northern Zambia around Kasama and Lake
Bangwelu, are the largest ethnic group in Zambia, forming about 20% of the population.
Many also live in the Copperbelt, having migrated for work, and Bemba is now the dom-
inant language there.
All together, speakers of Tonga as a first language make up about 15% of Zambia's
population. Once primarily hunters, most Tonga are now farmers and cattle herders, while
those who live along the rivers catch fish. The traditional homelands of the Tonga are the
Zambezi Valley and much of the higher country to the north, thus dividing them into two
groups: Valley Tonga and Plateau Tonga. The former's territory once spread into Zimbab-
we, but largely disappeared when Lake Kariba was formed.
People speaking Nyanja as their first language make up about 15% of the population
(the term Nyanja is used more to describe a language than a particular people); the Chewa
people make up about a third of the Nyanja-speakers in Zambia. The Ngoni, descendants
of Zulus who migrated here in the early 19th century, make up about 6% and live in
southeast Zambia around the town of Chipata. They still maintain some Zulu traditions
but have adopted Nyanja as their language. In the southeast, the Nsenga people, who also
speak Nyanja, inhabit the lands around the town of Petauke, along the lower Luangwa
River and along the Great East Road, making up about 5% of the population.
ZAMBIAN MUSIC
All of Zambia's ethnic groups have their own musical traditions. The Lozi are famous for the large drums played
during the remarkable Kuomboka ceremony, while the Bemba are also renowned drummers. Other traditional mu-
sical instruments used by most groups include large wooden xylophones, often with gourds underneath the blocks
for resonance, and tiny thumb pianos with keys made from flattened metal.
Contemporary Zambian musicians who have achieved some international fame include Larry Maluma, who
blends traditional Zambian beats with reggae, and had just released his ninth album Tusekelele (Let's Celebrate) at
the time of writing. Younger Zambians prefer reggae - both the old-school Jamaican style and the softer version
popular in Southern Africa - and contemporary Zambian r'n'b and hip-hop. K'Millian is a hugely popular Zambi-
an r'n'b artist. Also well loved is JK, who plays a mixture of hip-hop, reggae and traditional Zambian beats. Zam-
bians love Congolese soukous ('rhumba' in Zambia), which is always blasted at deafening levels at local bars and
nightclubs.
The Lozi have their own distinct nation called Barotseland, a significant part of Zam-
bia's Western Province and the vast Zambezi flood plain, and with about 650,000 people,
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