People
Kakwa
Population
The
average population density (which is population divided by area of land)
in much of the Kakwa land is 10 to 20 persons per square
kilometre of land area, but densities may vary from place to place and
from time to time. Currently, for instance, the areas of heavy
concentration of population are
Y
ei
Town,
Nyarilo, Keri, Ora’ba,
Ingbokolo,
Morobu,
Aru,
Aba.
The entire Kakwa people can be estimated to be just under 500,000
people.
Kakwa County: People and Territories (Map 1 - Kakwacongo)
The
Kakwa County which is the main area where the Kakwa inhabitants of
the Congo live, has been divided into five sub-counties as follows: (1) Rumu,
(2) Inzi, (3) Kumuru, (4) Diso, and (5) Adumi.
The largest sub-county is Rumu. These five sub-counties are further
divided into still smaller sub-sub-counties. This Kakwa
County nicknamed Kakwa Inga, occupies an area of approximately
975 square
kilometers within which live approximately 110,000 people
(2000 estimate). It shares borders with the Yei County in the Sudan
and with Ko’buko District in Uganda to the northeast
and east, with the Kaliko County to the west and to the south with
the Zaki County.
Kakwa
Ima are
found in the town of Aba in the Faradje area of the Congo;
in 1959, they numbered some 8,344 souls, and occupied a land
area of some 476 square kilometers.
Kakwa
Dropa
are found in the town of Aru.
Ko’buko
District (Map
2 - Kakwakobuko)
Yei
County (Map 3 - Kakwayeyi)
Kakwa
Neighbors
Kakwa
society occupies the region bordering northwestern Uganda, Southern Sudan,
and northeastern Congo. The following are the tribes neighboring the Kakwa
territories: Zaki, Logo, Baka, Mundu, Keliko,
Nyangbara, Muru, Lugbara, Avukaya, Kuku, Aringa,
Maracha, Terego, Kuku, Pojulu, Makaraka etc.
Bari Speakers
By
linguistic connection, the Kakwa are related to the Bari-speakers,
namely the Bari, Kuku, Mundari, Nyangbara, Pojulu
and even to the Karimojoŋ
and the Masai. Although the Kakwa people speak an Eastern Nilotic
language, they are geographically separated from other Eastern Nilotic
speakers. Kakwa society occupies the region bordering northwestern Uganda,
southern Sudan, and northeastern Congo. The exact point at which the Kakwa
separated from the Bari and Bari-Speaking Tribes, or from the
rest of the Nilo-Hamitic groups as whole is not known.
The Bari-Speaking Tribes are clustered together in a linguistic pocket in the south and southeast of the former Mongalla Province (Equatoria Province) which constituted part of the Lado Enclave which was again remained the Equatoria Province, extending from latitude 6° 5' down to latitude 3° 5', on both sides of the Nile and stretching to Aba, over 150 miles from the Nile. The Bari live partly west, and mostly east of the River Nile, between the Uma River and Mongalla; the Pojulu and Nyepo, between Loka and Yei; the Kuku, south of the Pojulu; the Kakwa