Eastern Lunda
Encyclopedia
The Lunda people of the Luapula River
valley in Zambia
and DR Congo are called by others the Eastern Lunda to distinguish them from the 'western' Lunda people who remained in the heartland of the former Lunda Kingdom
, but they themselves would use Kazembe-Lunda or Luunda with an elongated 'u' to make that distinction. (The name 'Lunda' may also be spelled Luunda).
The Eastern Lunda migrated in the 18th Century to their current area under the leader Mwata Kazembe. Their neighbours in northern Zambia to whom they are allied, the Bemba
, did so at the same time, and the Eastern Lunda took on the Bemba language
in place of the Chilunda, their original language. Their (western) Lunda compatriots in the North-Western Province of Zambia still speak Chilunda however.
Luapula River
The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo...
valley in Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
and DR Congo are called by others the Eastern Lunda to distinguish them from the 'western' Lunda people who remained in the heartland of the former Lunda Kingdom
Lunda Kingdom
The Kingdom of Lunda , also known as the Lunda Empire, was a pre-colonial African confederation of states in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, north-eastern Angola and northwestern Zambia. Its central state was in Katanga....
, but they themselves would use Kazembe-Lunda or Luunda with an elongated 'u' to make that distinction. (The name 'Lunda' may also be spelled Luunda).
The Eastern Lunda migrated in the 18th Century to their current area under the leader Mwata Kazembe. Their neighbours in northern Zambia to whom they are allied, the Bemba
Bemba people
The Bemba belong to a large group of peoples mainly in the Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia who trace their origins to the Luba and Lunda states of the upper Congo basin, in what became Katanga Province in southern Congo-Kinshasa...
, did so at the same time, and the Eastern Lunda took on the Bemba language
Bemba language
The Bemba language, ChiBemba , is a major Bantu language spoken primarily in north-eastern Zambia by the Bemba people and as a lingua franca by about 18 related ethnic groups, including the Bisa people of Mpika and Lake Bangweulu, and to a lesser extent in Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the...
in place of the Chilunda, their original language. Their (western) Lunda compatriots in the North-Western Province of Zambia still speak Chilunda however.