| Primarily of the Bantu group of south and central Africa, the blacks are divided into two major language groups, which are subdivided into several ethnic groups. The Mashona (Shona speakers), who constitute about 75 percent of the population, have lived in the area the longest and are the majority language group. The Matabele (Sindebele speakers), representing about 20 percent of the population and centered in the southwest around Bulawayo, arrived in within the last 150 years. An offshoot of the South African Zulu group, they maintained control over the Mashona until the white occupation of Rhodesia in 1890. |
