Zaghawa people

Zaghawa people
Total population
384,150[1]
Regions with significant populations
West Darfur and Ouaddaï Region
 Chad203,754[1]
 Sudan171,000[2]
 Libya9,400[3][4]
Languages
Zaghawa
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Kanembu, Kanuri, Fur, Tubu, Masalit, Nilo-Saharans[5]

The Zaghawa people, also called Beri or Zakhawa, are an ethnic group primarily residing in southwestern Libya, northeastern Chad, and western Sudan, including Darfur.[6]

Zaghawas speak the Zaghawa language, which is an eastern Saharan language.[7][8] They are pastoralists, and a breed of sheep that they herd is called Zaghawa by the Arabs. They are nomadic and obtain much of their livelihood through herding cattle, camels and sheep and harvesting wild grains. It has been estimated that there are 384,150 people who belong to the Zaghawa ethnicity.[1]

  1. ^ a b c "Chad". 29 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Sudan – Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland" (PDF). 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  3. ^ "Zaghawa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 3 October 2023. User Population: 9,400 in Libya (2020).
  4. ^ "Embracing Islam: The Zaghawa People's Transformation of Beliefs and Tradition in Chad". Kalamazoo College. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ James Stuart Olson (1996). The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Greenwood. pp. 91–92, 608. ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8.
  6. ^ John A. Shoup III (2011). Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 333–334. ISBN 978-1-59884-363-7.
  7. ^ Zaghawa, Ethnologue
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference paul737 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).