nonBantu

The term "nonBantu" is sometimes used in linguistic and anthropological contexts to refer to peoples and languages of Africa that are not part of the Bantu linguistic and cultural group. The Bantu languages form a large family within the Niger-Congo language phylum, spoken by hundreds of millions of people across a vast swathe of sub-Saharan Africa. The Bantu expansion, a series of migrations that began several thousand years ago, spread these languages and associated cultures from West Central Africa to Southern Africa.

Therefore, "nonBantu" encompasses a wide array of diverse ethnic groups and language families. This includes, but is not limited to, speakers of Nilo-Saharan languages, Khoisan languages, Afro-Asiatic languages (in the Horn of Africa and North Africa), and various other Niger-Congo branches that are not classified as Bantu. These groups often have distinct histories, social structures, and cultural practices that predate or developed independently of the Bantu expansion. It is important to note that "nonBantu" is a broad, primarily negative definition, based on what a group is *not* rather than what it *is*, and should be used with an awareness of the vast diversity it encompasses.