Lunda

The Lunda are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group of Central Africa, with communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola and smaller populations in neighboring countries such as Zambia. They speak the Lunda language, which belongs to the Niger-Congo language family; in Angola many Lunda are also fluent in Portuguese, and in the DRC they may speak French or local lingua francas alongside Lunda.

Historically, the Lunda established a centralized state often referred to as the Lunda Kingdom or Lunda Empire, expanding from the 17th into the 19th century across parts of what are now eastern Angola and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The empire was built on organized leadership networks and trade routes, and it interacted with neighboring groups and more distant powers. In the 19th century, its power diminished due to internal factionalism and external pressures, with political authority shifting to local chiefs and chiefdoms.

Traditional Lunda social organization centers on clans and lineages, with local chiefs and customary authority playing key roles in governance and ritual life. Today many Lunda maintain customary practices alongside Christianity, Islam, and other religious influences. The economy has historically relied on farming, hunting, and fishing, with trade networks linking Lunda communities to other peoples; contemporary livelihoods include agriculture, mining, and urban employment.

Culture among the Lunda encompasses music, dance, crafts, and rites linked to kinship, birth, marriage, and death. The language and cultural practices connect the Lunda with neighboring Bantu groups in the broader Central African region, reflecting shared linguistic and cultural heritage with groups such as the Luba and Chokwe.