Lunda people
Group of Ka-Lundas in 1909 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. ≈1,450,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 750,000 |
| Angola | 500,000 |
| Zambia | 200,000 |
| Languages | |
| Lunda, French, Swahili, English, Portuguese, Kituba | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Luba people, Chokwe people | |
The Lunda (Balunda, Luunda, Ruund) are a Bantu ethnic group that originated in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Kalanyi River and formed the Kingdom of Lunda in the 17th century under their ruler, Mwata Yamvo or Mwaant Yav, with their capital at Musumba. From there they spread widely through Katanga and into Eastern Angola, north-western Zambia (the Kanongesha-Lunda and the Ishindi-Lunda, Gabon, Republic of Congo) and the Luapula valley of Zambia (the Eastern Lunda or Kazembe-Lunda).