Luba people

Luba people
Total population
c. 28.8 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Languages
Luba languages (Kiluba and Tshiluba); Swahili; French
Religion
Christianity, Islam, African Traditional Religion, Bantu Mythology
Related ethnic groups
other Bantu peoples
PersonMulubà
PeopleBalubà
LanguageKiluba

The Luba people or Baluba are a Bantu ethno-linguistic group indigenous to the south-central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2] The majority of them live in this country, residing mainly in Katanga, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Kasaï-Central, Lomami and Maniema. The Baluba consist of many sub-groups or clans.

The Baluba developed a society and culture by about the 400s CE, later developing a well-organised community in the Upemba Depression known as the Baluba in Katanga confederation.[3][4] Luba society consisted of miners, smiths, woodworkers, potters, crafters, and people of various other professions.[5][6] They found relative success over time, but this eventually caused their gradual decline with the Portuguese and Omani empires led or influenced invasions.

  1. ^ Elizabeth Heath (2010). Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (eds.). Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
  2. ^ Elizabeth Heath (2010). Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (eds.). Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press. pp. 88–89, 14–15. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
  3. ^ Toyin Falola; Daniel Jean-Jacques (2015). Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. ABC-CLIO. pp. 285–286. ISBN 978-1-59884-666-9.
  4. ^ Thomas Q. Reefe (1981). The Rainbow and the Kings: A History of the Luba Empire to 1891. University of California Press. pp. 67–72. ISBN 978-0-520-04140-0.
  5. ^ Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press. pp. 88–89, 106, 130–131, 309–310. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
  6. ^ Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Luba and Lunda Empires, Alexander Ives Bortolot (2003), Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, Publisher: The Metropolitan Museum of Art