Affinity Bloc: Sub-Saharan African

Overview: Bantu refers to a large, complex linguistic grouping of peoples in Africa. The Sotho-Tswana Bantu people cluster encompasses more than twenty people groups, all of which are related to the Sotho and Tswana ethnic groups. The Sothos (Basuto) are one of the largest ethnic groups in southern Africa. Most of the Sothos live in Lesotho, formerly Basutoland. The Sothos are subdivided into several large groups, based in political loyalties to a chiefdom. The Tswana, often referred to as the Western Sotho, are a large ethnic group living in Botswana, Namibia, and across the border in South Africa. The largest Tswana settlements are near water sources on the edge of the Kalahari Desert.

  -- James Olson, The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press (1996). Pp. 534, 567.

Peoples within this cluster: Birwa; Kgalagadi; Lozi; Pedi; Sotho; Tswana

Countries where they are found: Angola; Botswana; Eswatini; Lesotho; Namibia; South Africa; United States; Zambia; Zimbabwe