Xhosa people

Xhosa people
AmaXhosa

Xhosa graduates at Zonnebloem College in 1860, Cape Town, Cape Colony
Total population
9,660,004
Regions with significant populations
South Africa	9,415,133 ~ (2022 estimate) Eastern Cape: 5,102,053 Western Cape: 2,326,704 Gauteng: 862,124 Free State: 320,645 KwaZulu-Natal: 405,140 North West: 225,023 Northern Cape: 101,062 Mpumalanga: 50,225 Limpopo: 22,157
Zimbabwe	200,000[1]
Botswana	12,000
Namibia	10,000
Lesotho	23,000
Languages
IsiXhosa IsiZulu, Sesotho, Sepedi, English, Afrikaans
Religion
uThixo, Qamata, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Southern Ndebele, Zulu, Hlubi, Swati, and Northern Ndebele, Griqua, Khoisan, San people, Khoekhoe, Phuthi people, /Xam

The Xhosa people (/ˈkɔːsə/ KAW-sə, /ˈkoʊsə/ KOH-sə;^[2][3][4] Xhosa pronunciation: [kǁʰɔ́ːsa] ^ⓘ) are a Bantu ethnic group and tribe that migrated over centuries into Southern Africa eventually settling in South Africa. They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the isiXhosa language.

The Xhosa people are descendants of Nguni clans who settled in the Southeastern part of Southern Africa displacing the original inhabitants, the Khoisan. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Xhosa people have inhabited the area since the 7th century.

Presently, over ten million Xhosa-speaking people are distributed across Southern Africa. In 1994 the self-governing bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei were incorporated into South Africa, becoming the Eastern Cape province.

As of 2003,^[update] the majority of Xhosa speakers, approximately 19.8 million, lived in the Eastern Cape, followed by the Western Cape (approximately 1 million), Gauteng (971,045), the Free State (546,192), KwaZulu-Natal (219,826), North West (214,461), Mpumalanga (46,553), the Northern Cape (51,228), and Limpopo (14,225).^[5]

There is a small but significant Xhosa-speaking (Mfengu) community in Zimbabwe, and their language, isiXhosa, is recognised as an official national language. This community was brought by Cecil John Rhodes for cheap labour in Rhodesian mines in early 20th century.^{[clarification needed][6]}