Ambundu

Ambundu
Total population
8,631,500[1]
Regions with significant populations
Angola
Languages
Kimbundu, Portuguese
Religion
Christianity, African traditional religions
Related ethnic groups
Ovimbundu, other Bantu peoples
Ethnical map of Angola (Ambundu area marked yellow)

The Ambundu or Mbundu[2] (Mbundu: Ambundu or Akwambundu, singular: Mumbundu[3][4] (distinct from the Ovimbundu) are a Bantu people who live on a high plateau in present-day Angola just north of the Kwanza River. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and most also speak the official language of the country, Portuguese. They are the second biggest ethnic group in the country and make up 25% of the total population of Angola.[citation needed]

The Ambundu nowadays live in the region stretching to the East from Angola's capital city of Luanda (see map). They are predominant in the Bengo and Malanje provinces and in neighbouring parts of the Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul provinces. The head of the main Ambundu kingdom was called a Ngola, which is the origin of the name of the country Angola.

  1. ^ "PeopleGroups.org – Kimbundu Mbundu of Angola". peoplegroups.org. Archived from the original on 2022-08-11. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  2. ^ The historical literature in English refers to them generally as Mbundu; erroneously, they are sometimes called "Kimbundo(s)", after their language. In Portuguese, they are in such cases spelled as "Quimbundos".
  3. ^ Mateus Jacinto Marques Manuel, Conhecimento das Diferenças Sintáticas Entre a Língua Portuguesa e a Língua Kimbundu, Universidade da Beira Interior, Faculdade de Artes e Letras, Departamento de Letras, 2017, p. 43
  4. ^ Robson, Paul. "Communities and Reconstruction in Angola" (PDF). p. 36. Retrieved 18 November 2021.