Anuak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Anuak are a river people whose villages are scattered along the banks and rivers of southeastern Sudan and western Ethiopia, in the region of Gambela.

The Anuak of Sudan live in a grassy region that is flat and virtually treeless. During the rainy season, this area floods, so that much of it becomes swampland with various channels of deep water running through it.

The Anuak speak a Nilotic language known as Anyua. It is spoken by 78,000 people. 52,000 in Sudan, and 26,000 in Ethiopia.

Unlike other Nilotic people in the region whose economy is centered on raising cattle, the Anuak are herdsmen and farmers. They are believed to have a common origin with their northern neighbors, the Shilluk. Also, they share a similar language with their neighbors to the south, the Acholi.