Bemba people

E184650

The Bemba people are a major Bantu ethnic group of central and northern Zambia, known for their matrilineal social structure, rich oral traditions, and historical Bemba Kingdom.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Bemba people canonical 4
Bemba 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Bantu people
ethnic group
alsoKnownAs AbaBemba
AbaBemba
surface form: BaBemba
capitalOfTraditionalKingdom Lubemba
clanInheritance through the mother’s line
clanSystem totemic clans
colonialHistory incorporated into British colonial Northern Rhodesia
continent Africa
country Zambia
culturalTrait initiation ceremonies
praise poetry
rich oral traditions
storytelling
ethnolinguisticGroup Bemba language
surface form: Bemba
historicalPeriodOfExpansion 18th century
19th century
initiationRite chisungu
initiationRiteFor girls
kinshipSystem matrilineal clan system
language Bemba language
languageFamily Bantu languages
majorReligion Christianity
modernCountry Zambia
populationStatusInZambia one of the largest ethnic groups in Zambia
primaryRegion Central Province, Zambia
surface form: Central Zambia

Copperbelt Province
Luapula Province
Northern Province
Northern Province, Zambia
surface form: Northern Zambia
regionOfInfluence north-eastern Angola
southern Democratic Republic of the Congo
regionOfOrigin north-eastern Zambia
significantUrbanPresence Copperbelt mining towns
Lusaka, Zambia
surface form: Lusaka
socialStructure matrilineal descent
successionRule matrilineal succession to chiefly titles
traditionalCrops beans
cassava
finger millet
groundnuts
maize
traditionalEconomy shifting cultivation
slash-and-burn agriculture
traditionalFood cassava nshima
nshima
traditionalHousing thatched huts
traditionalPoliticalEntity Bemba Kingdom
traditionalReligion African traditional religion
traditionalRulerTitle Chitimukulu

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Fipa people neighboringGroup Bemba people
Atlantic–Congo languages includesLanguage Bemba people
this entity surface form: Bemba
Mambwe people areRelatedTo Bemba people
Bemba language ethnicGroup Bemba people
Lunda people neighboringEthnicGroup Bemba people