Central Equatoria - Demographics

Demographics

Major tribes include Bari people, Pojulu, Kakwa, Kaliko, Kuku, Lugbara, Nyangwara, Makaraka and Lulubo. Minor tribes include the Nyepo in Northern Kajo-Keji County and Lokoya along Nimule Road. Erasto Gonda, Senior Folklore Officer for Central Equatoria’s information ministry further details the State's demographics:

In terms of tribes in Central Equatoria we have Mundari, of Terekeka County and Bari are the largest, then we have the Kuku from Kajo Keji County, Nyangware from Rokon area – then we have Pojulu from Lainya county,Yei County and Juba District, and then we have the Kakwa, from Yei County and Morobu, then there is the Kalico from Morobo County, There’s another as well; the Pojulu-Tijor who are near Tali. So, these tribes are the eight tribes who speak one language, Kutuk, although they all have different traditional dances. Mundari language for example has its own notion tone different from Bari but they also speak Bari at the same time because some of the border the Bari to the north of Juba, although there are differences in some of the words. But they all also have their special languages, called their ‘Kobura’ which the others don’t understand. It is a hidden language, they speak it during danger. They are all from one family but got separated because of land, the land was not enough. The first were all pastoralists, and then some remained pastoralists and some became agriculturalists. Then there is also the Direr or Nubi, these people are a collection of tribes and their religion is Islam. They settled together in two main places, in Malakia in Juba and in Bombo which is near Kampala in Uganda. They are united by their religion, which came to them in the 1940s. They now consider themselves to be a new tribe. The agriculturalists out of these are the Kuku, the Kakwa, Pojulu, Lokoya, Lulubo, Ngangware, Kalico, Nyepo. They grow a variety of crops, including maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, dura or sorghum, groundnuts, beans. These tribes have two harvests every year, the first in June or July and the second in November or December. They also keep cattle, goats and sheep