Nilotic

Nilotic refers to a broad group of ethnolinguistic peoples and the languages they speak, spread across the Nile Valley and East Africa. The term, derived from the Nile River, was applied by 19th-century ethnographers to denote communities living along or near the Nile and its tributaries who share linguistic and cultural traits.

Geographically, Nilotic peoples inhabit parts of South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. Notable examples include the Dinka, Nuer, and Shilluk of South Sudan; the Maasai and related Maa-speaking groups of Kenya and Tanzania; Turkana, Toposa, and other communities in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia; and various Luo-speaking populations in western Kenya and parts of Uganda. The groups range from pastoralist to agrarian, and many maintain distinctive social customs such as age-set or clan-based systems.

Linguistically, Nilotic languages form a major branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. They are typically divided by linguists into subgroups such as Western Nilotic, Eastern Nilotic, and Southern Nilotic, among others. The languages include dozens of distinct tongues, with Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Maasai, Turkana, and Luo among the more widely spoken.

In modern contexts, Nilotic communities are integrated within several African states. Nilotic languages are spoken in daily life, education, and local media, though many face pressures from larger regional languages such as English, Arabic, or Swahili, and several languages are considered endangered.