Dinka

n. member of simple African people of the Nile Valley in southern Sudan; Nilotic language of the Dinka people

This article is about the ethnic group; for the language see Dinka language. The Dinka are a group of tribes of south Sudan, inhabiting the swamplands of the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. They are mainly agro-pastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet (Anyanjang) in fixed settlements during the rainy season. They number around 4.5 million people, constituting about 12% of the population of the entire country, and constitute the largest ethnic tribe in South Sudan. Dinka, or as they refer to themselves, Mounyjaang, are one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes (mainly agri-pastoral peoples of E. Africa who speak Nilotic languages, including the Nuer and Maasai) (Seligman 1965). They are dark African people, differing markedly from the Arabic speaking ethnic groups inhabiting northern Sudan. Dinka are sometimes noted for their height. The popular belief that Dinka "often" reach more than seven feet finds no support in the scientific literature. An anthropometric survey of Dinka men published in 1995 found a mean height of 176.4 cm, or roughly 5 ft 9.45 in (Chali 1995).
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Noun
1. a Nilotic language
(hypernym) Nilotic, Nilotic language