Sotho people facts for kids
King Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Basotho nation, with his Ministers.
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|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 6 million (2001 est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 South Africa |
3,544,304 (2001 census) to 4,723,000 |
 Lesotho |
1,669,000 |
 Botswana |
11,000 |
 Eswatini |
6,000 |
 United Kingdom |
3,000 |
 United States |
2,000 |
 Canada |
1,500 |
 Mozambique |
1,000 |
 Australia |
500 |
 New Zealand |
300 |
 Zimbabwe |
100 |
| Languages | |
| Sesotho, English | |
| Religion | |
| African traditional religion, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Northern Sotho, Tswana, Lozi | |
The Sotho people, or Basotho, are a Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa, native to modern Lesotho and South Africa, who speak Sesotho. The Basotho have inhabited the region since around the fifth century and so are closely related to other Bantu peoples of the region.
The modern Basotho identity emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century. Most Basotho today live in Lesotho & South Africa, as the area of the Orange Free State was originally part of Moshoeshoe's nation (now Lesotho).
Images for kids
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A Mosotho man wearing a Mokorotlo.
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Basotho on Horses
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Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso
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Brown shweshwe.
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Mokorotlo is a type of straw hat
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Basotho Women during Mokhibo
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Blue Shweshwe.
See also
In Spanish: Sotho para niños
