Peoples of the Zambezi Region

From Caprivi Region to Zambezi Region

The administrative Caprivi Region was renamed Zambezi Region by proclamation in 2013. The same proclamation divided Kavango into two regions. The historical geographical expression Caprivi Strip can cover a broader area than the present Zambezi Region, including territory in Kavango East; the terms are not interchangeable.

Caprivian may still occur as a personal or regional identification and in historical sources. Its continued use should be understood in context rather than automatically treated as an ethnic name or dismissed as illegitimate. An administrative renaming does not determine how every resident describes belonging.

Communities, languages and leadership

The Zambezi 2023 Census profile records several ethnic categories, including Masubia, Mafwe, Matotela, Mayeyi, Hambukushu and Kwe/kxoe/Mbarakwengo. These categories help demonstrate diversity but do not settle contested community boundaries or the full meaning of every name.

Language names include Sisubiya, Sifwe, Siyeyi, Totela, Thimbukushu and Khwe, as well as Silozi. Silozi has an important regional role, but speaking it does not make everyone Lozi. The census distinguishes language reported at home from ethnicity: for example, 30.5% of households reported Sisubiya and 25.8% Silozi (Sikololo) as their main home language.

The government directory lists Masubia, Mafwe, Mayeyi and Mashi traditional authorities. This is a list of recognised institutions, not a complete inventory of ethnic communities or a basis for assigning every smaller community to one authority without further evidence.

Rivers and cross-border connections

The Zambezi, Kwando and Chobe river systems and associated floodplains shape regional geography. Farming, fishing, livestock and travel are influenced by seasonal water, but settlement and livelihoods vary between riverbank, floodplain, woodland and town. The region’s borders intersect relationships with neighbouring Zambia, Botswana and Angola.

Katima Mulilo is the regional capital and an important centre for services and commerce. The census describes both urban and rural residents and their different access to housing and services. It should not be used to turn every resident into a fisher, farmer or customary specialist.

Conservation and community institutions

Salambala was among Namibia’s first four communal conservancies gazetted in 1998. The conservancy framework gives participating communities specified rights to manage and benefit from wildlife and tourism within national law. Those rights do not mean unrestricted ownership of every resource or that everyone benefits equally.

Conservation also involves practical questions about crops, livestock, wildlife damage and access to resources. A conservancy, a traditional authority and a regional council have different roles. They should not be used as interchangeable names for community government.

Culture and contemporary life

Songs, dances, ceremonies, craft and oral accounts should be attributed to the relevant community and setting. A practice seen at one centre cannot stand for the whole region. Cross-border cultural relationships may be important without making either side of a national border culturally uniform.

Schools, local institutions, towns and movement for work belong in the regional account alongside rivers and conservation. Different languages and histories are part of this contemporary landscape, not simply features of a distant past.

Visiting and learning

Ask which community a guide or cultural centre represents. Check permission before visiting homesteads, fields, fishing places or ceremonies, and agree photography arrangements. Respect flood conditions and local advice about access. Regional labels are useful orientation; local names and explanations provide the detail.

Sources and review

Sources: Government Gazette 5261, Proclamation 29 of 2013, regional changes; NSA, Zambezi 2023 Census regional profile; Government directory, Zambezi traditional authorities; MEFT, communal conservancy legislation, registration and wildlife management; Traditional Authorities Act 25 of 2000. Reviewed 7 October 2026. Census references describe the 2023 enumeration; later publication dates do not make them 2026 population counts.