See Also: Ovimbundu(encyclopedia)

Ovimbundu (sh)




Bantu-speaking people of central Angola.

Numbering about 4 million, the Ovimbundu provided the major popular support for Jonas M. Savimbi and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). They were formerly traders; today they farm, hunt, and raise livestock. About half the 22 Ovimbundu chiefdoms were tributary to a larger chiefdom before Portuguese intervention in the 20th century.