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Zaire ETHNIC GROUPS
Zaire's population is composed of as many as 250
different
ethnic groups, most of which are Bantu-speakers. The
largest Bantuspeaking groups are the Luba, Kongo, Mongo, and Lunda. In
1992 some
sources reported that the Luba, Kongo, and Mongo groups as
well as
the non-Bantu-speaking Zande and Mangbetu together made up
about 45
percent of the population. Calculations of the number and
relative
sizes of ethnic groups in Zaire are at best
approximations,
however. These groups are neither fixed entities nor the
sole or
even primary points of reference for all Zairians. On the
contrary,
for most purposes and in most contexts, rural Zairians see
themselves primarily as members of a local community or of
a
clan (see Glossary)
or
lineage (see
Glossary). Ethnic identity
has
become salient only under certain conditions, and the
precise
boundaries of ethnic groups have shifted with
circumstances.
Ethnicity and regionalism (the latter based in part on
ethnic
considerations) were, and continue to be, of substantial
importance
in the political orientation of Zairians, but the units
involved
have always varied in composition, cohesion, and
ideological selfconsciousness .
Given the difficulty of categorizing ethnic groups in
such a
way as to satisfy objective criteria on the one hand and
the
subjective standard of common identity on the other, and
given the
sheer number of named groups, only a brief survey of the
major
entities based on common (or closely similar) language and
culture
is attempted here. A mapping of clusters of related or
culturally
similar entities shows a limited correspondence to the
major
geographic regions of Zaire, and these provide a framework
for the
survey. The basic source on this subject is Jan Vansina's
work from
the 1960s, Introduction à l'ethnographie du Congo.
Data as of December 1993
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