Ovambo people

Ovambo

Ovambo people (between 1906-1918)
Total population
(~1.6 million)
Regions with significant populations
Namibia	~1.2 million
Angola	425,000
Languages
Oshiwambo
Religion
Christianity (Lutheran)
Related ethnic groups
Other Bantu peoples

The Ovambo people, also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga) or Ovawambo (Kwanyama), are a Southern African tribal ethnic group. They are the largest ethnic group of Namibia, found in its northern regions and more often called Ovambo. They are also found in southern Angolan province of Cunene where the name Ambo is more common. The Ovambo consist of a number of kindred Bantu ethnic tribes who inhabit what is called Owamboland. Accounting for about fifty percent of the Namibian population, the Ovamba are its largest ethnic group. In Angola, they are a minority, accounting for about two percent of the total Angolan population.

The Ambo people migrated south from the upper regions of Zambezi in the period around the 14th century. The contemporary total Ambo population is about 1.6 million, and they are predominantly Christians (97%).

The Ambo are a ethnolinguist group and speak Ovambo language, also called Oshiwambo, Ambo, Kwanyama, or Otjiwambo, a language that belongs to the southern branch of the Niger-Congo family of languages.

The Ovambo people reside in the flat sandy grassy plains of north Namibia and the Cunene Province in south Angola, sometimes referred to as Ovamboland. These plains are generally flat, stoneless and at high altitude.

Water courses, known as oshanas irrigate the area. In the northern regions of Owamboland is tropical vegetation sustained by abundant but seasonal rainfall that floods the region into temporary lakes and islands. In dry season, these pools of water empty out. The Ambo people have adapted to the widely varying seasonal weather patterns with their housing, agriculture, and livestock practices.

The Ovambo people are Bantu-speaking tribes. In Namibia, these are the AaNdonga, Ovakwanyama, Aakwambi, Aangandjera, Aambalantu, Ovaunda, Aakolonkadhi and Aakwaluudhi. In Angola, they are the Ovakwanyama, Aakafima, Evale and Aandonga. They speak Oshiwambo, in many dialects such as the Oshikwanyama, Oshingandjera, Oshindonga and others.

The Ovambo people probably started migrating to their current location from the northeast in or after the 15th century from the Zambia region. They settled near the Angola-Namibia border then expanded further south in Namibia in the 17th century. They have a close cultural, linguistic and historical relationship to the Herero people found in more southern parts of Namibia, and Kavango people to their east settled around the Okavango River.