Shona people

The Shona are a group of Bantu-speaking peoples, primarily associated with Zimbabwe and neighboring areas of southern Africa. They share related languages and cultural traditions, alongside substantial regional and historical diversity.

Shona languages: A closely related group of Bantu languages spoken mainly in Zimbabwe and neighboring parts of southern Africa. Related languages provide a central basis for communication and shared identity across Shona communities.
Great Zimbabwe: The stone-built remains of a major medieval settlement and political center in southeastern Zimbabwe. Its builders are associated with ancestors of Shona-speaking communities, though the site's history is broader than any single modern identity.
Zezuru: A major Shona-speaking community concentrated in central and northern Zimbabwe. Zezuru identity illustrates regional and linguistic distinctions within Shona society.
Shona religion: Religious beliefs and practices among Shona communities, including relations with ancestors and spiritual beings. Religious practice is a significant dimension of Shona cultural life and has changed through interaction with Christianity.
Zimbabwe: A landlocked country in southern Africa, bordered by Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Botswana. Most Shona people live in Zimbabwe, where they form the largest ethnolinguistic group.
Kingdom of Mutapa: A Shona-led kingdom that emerged in the fifteenth century in the region north of Great Zimbabwe. Its rulers and networks shaped political history among Shona-speaking populations.
Karanga: A major Shona-speaking community concentrated mainly in southern Zimbabwe. Karanga communities form a substantial part of the wider Shona population.
Shona sculpture: A modern artistic movement associated with stone sculpture by Zimbabwean artists, including many Shona artists. The movement draws on local materials and themes, though it is not a single timeless or uniform Shona tradition.
Bantu peoples: A broad grouping of peoples in sub-Saharan Africa whose languages belong to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family. The Shona belong to this wider linguistic and historical grouping.
Rozvi Empire: A Shona-led state that became prominent in the Zimbabwean plateau during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Rozvi state was a major political formation in the region's Shona history.

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