Nilotic
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'''Nilotic people''' or '''Nilotes''', in its contemporary usage, refers to some [[ethnic group]]s mainly in [[southern Sudan]], [[Uganda]], [[Kenya]], and northern [[Tanzania]], who speak [[Nilotic languages]], a large sub-group of [[Nilo-Saharan languages]]. These include the [[Kalenjin]], [[Luo (family of ethnic groups)|Luo]], [[Ateker]], [[Dinka]], [[Nuer]], [[Shilluk]] and the [[Maa languages|Maa-speaking peoples]] – all which are clusters of several ethnic groups.<ref name=bartleby>[http://www.bartleby.com/61/85/N0108500.html "Nilotic", The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.]</ref>
The terms Nilotic and Nilotes were previously used as racial classifications, based on now widely discarded perceptions.<ref name="colin">[http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521797290&ss=exc The Forging of Races Cambridge University Press] THE FORGING OF RACES - by Colin Kidd Excerpt</ref> The terms are now foremost used to distinguish "Nilotic people" from their ethnic neighbours (mainly [[Bantu]] speaking people), based on [[ethnolinguistic]] affiliation.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9055858/Nilot Encyclopædia Britannica Article: Nilot]</ref> Etymologically, the terms Nilotic and Nilote (also spelled Nilot) derive from the Nile Valley, specifically the [[Upper Nile, Sudan|Upper Nile]] and its tributaries, where most Sudanese Nilotic speaking people live.
==Linguistic divisions==
{{main|Nilotic languages}}
Linguistically, Nilotic people are divided into three sub-groups:
*[[Eastern Nilotic languages|Eastern Nilotic]]
*[[Southern Nilotic languages|Southern Nilotic]]
*[[Western Nilotic languages|Western Nilotic]]
==Ethnic divisions==
Nilotic people constitute a large part of the population of [[Southern Sudan]]. The largest of the Sudanese Nilotic people are the [[Dinka]], which includes as many as twenty-five ethnic groups. The next largest group are the [[Nuer]], followed by the [[Shilluk]].<ref>Helen Chapin Metz, ed. ''[http://countrystudies.us/sudan/39.htm Sudan: A Country Study.]'' Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991.</ref>
The Nilotic people in Uganda include the [[Luo (family of ethnic groups)|Luo group]] ([[Acholi]], [[Alur]] and [[Jopadhola]]), the [[Ateker]] ([[Iteso]] and [[Karamojong]]), and the [[Lango]] and [[Kumam]] (who are linguistically affiliated with the Luo, but are often culturally grouped with the Ateker).
In Kenya, the Nilotes are often categorised in three subgroups:
*The Plain Nilotes, who speak [[Maa language]]s: The [[Maasai]], [[Samburu]] and [[Turkana]]
*The River lake Nilotes: The [[Joluo]], which is part of the larger [[Luo (family of ethnic groups)|Luo]] group
*The Highland Nilotic or [[Kalenjin people|Kalenjin]], which includes several smaller groups: [[Elgeyo]], [[Keiyo]], [[Kipsigis]], [[Marakwet]], [[Nandi (ethnic group)|Nandi]], [[Pokot]], [[Sabaot]], [[Terik people|Terik]], and [[Tugen]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Africa]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Kenya]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Sudan]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Tanzania]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Uganda]]
[[Category:Nilotic peoples]]
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