Kavango

The Kavango-people reside on the Nambian[?] side of the Namibian-Angolan border. They are mainly riverine living people, but about 20% reside in the dry inland. Their livelyhood is based on fishery, livestock-keeping and cropping (mainly perlmillet[?]/mahangu[?]).

Politically they are devided into five kingdoms, each headed by a hompa or fumu. Traditional law is still in use and legitimized by the namibian constitution. The Kavango-people are matrilinear[?].

The most common language spoken is RuKwangali[?] (in Kwangali[?] and Mbunza[?] territory); also spoken are Shambyu[?], Gciriku[?] and Mbukushu[?] in the corresponding territories. At least RuKwangali is a written language.

Their religion is mainly Christian although traditional elements still have a place.

Following the Angolan civil war[?], many Angolans (often referred to as Nyemba[?], which is in fact only one of many Angolan peoples) immigrated to traditional Kavango territory. Also many San/bushmen[?] live amongst the Kavango-people, mainly employed as contract laborours.