Historical locations of the Bantu ethnic groups in Zambia

In this post, we shall focus our attention on the Historical locations of the Bantu ethnic groups in Zambia

Nearly all the different ethnic groups in Zambia migrated from other areas long ago. There are about 73 different ethnic groups in Zambia. However, nearly 90% of Zambians belong to one of the nine main ethnic and language groups.

Bantu ethnic groups in Zambia

Western Province: Is home to Lozi and other smaller ethnic groups such as the Ikoya and Mbunda

Northern-Western Province: Has many different ethnic groups, such as the southern Lunda and Luvale, Chokwe, Luchazi, Mbunda, Ndembu and Kaonde

Southern Province: Is home to as many as 12 separate but related Ila-Tonga groups.

Northern Province: Is home to Bemba and other groups such as Mambwe and Namwanga.

Muchinga Province: Home to Bemba and the Bisa.
Luapula Province: Most people speak Bemba, the province include other groups such as the Lunda, Kabende, Aushi and Chishima.

Eastern Province: Is the home of the Nsenga, Chewa, Tumbuka, Kunda and Ngoni. The main language is Nyanja which is also spoken in Malawi.

Central Province: Is where the ethnic boundary between the Ila-Tonga and the Lala-Lamba groups are. The Lenje-Solio people live in the area roughly between these other groups.

Copperbelt Province: The location of the mining industry and Lusaka Province has people from all parts of Zambia, as well as neighboring countries.

Map of Zambia’s ethnic groups, originally developed during colonial times