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Acholi people
The Acholi people (/əˈtʃoʊ.li/ ə-CHOH-li, also spelled Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples (also spelled Lwo), found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. The Acholi living in Uganda were estimated to number 1.9 million people in 2024 and over 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.
The Acholi dialect is a Western Nilotic language, classified as Luo (or Lwo). It has similarity with Alur, Padhola language, and other Luo languages in South Sudan Shilluk, Anuak, Pari, Balanda, Boor, Thuri. Then in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo also known as the Luo.
The Song of Lawino, one of the most successful African literary works, was written by Okot p'Bitek, published in 1966 in Acholi, and later translated to English.
Acholi land or "Acoli-land" (also known as the Acholi sub-region) refers to the region traditionally inhabited by the Acholi. In the administrative structure of Uganda, Acholi is composed of the districts of:
It encompasses about 28,500 km2 (11,000 square miles) near the Uganda-Sudan border.
Its current population is estimated to be around 2,155,000 individuals, or six percent of the total national population. While Acholi also live north of the South Sudanese borders, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland".
The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. That is why the Lango neighbors refer to the Acholi as Ugangi, meaning people of the home.
The presumed nominal forebears of the present-day Acholi group migrated South to Northern Uganda from the area now known as Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan by about 1,000 AD. Starting in the late seventeenth century, a new sociopolitical order developed among the Luo of Northern Uganda, mainly characterized by the formation of chiefdoms headed by Rwodi (sg. Rwot, 'ruler'). The chiefs traditionally came from one clan, and each chiefdom had several villages made up of different patrilineal clans. By the mid-nineteenth century, about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholi-land. During the second half of the nineteenth century, Arabic-speaking traders from the north started to call them Shooli, a term which was transformed into 'Acholi'.
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Acholi people
The Acholi people (/əˈtʃoʊ.li/ ə-CHOH-li, also spelled Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples (also spelled Lwo), found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. The Acholi living in Uganda were estimated to number 1.9 million people in 2024 and over 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.
The Acholi dialect is a Western Nilotic language, classified as Luo (or Lwo). It has similarity with Alur, Padhola language, and other Luo languages in South Sudan Shilluk, Anuak, Pari, Balanda, Boor, Thuri. Then in Kenya and Tanzania are the Joluo also known as the Luo.
The Song of Lawino, one of the most successful African literary works, was written by Okot p'Bitek, published in 1966 in Acholi, and later translated to English.
Acholi land or "Acoli-land" (also known as the Acholi sub-region) refers to the region traditionally inhabited by the Acholi. In the administrative structure of Uganda, Acholi is composed of the districts of:
It encompasses about 28,500 km2 (11,000 square miles) near the Uganda-Sudan border.
Its current population is estimated to be around 2,155,000 individuals, or six percent of the total national population. While Acholi also live north of the South Sudanese borders, the Sudanese Acholi are often excluded from the political meaning of the term "Acholiland".
The word 'Acholi' is a misnomer that became adopted for convenience over the years. It refers to people known locally as Luo Gang. That is why the Lango neighbors refer to the Acholi as Ugangi, meaning people of the home.
The presumed nominal forebears of the present-day Acholi group migrated South to Northern Uganda from the area now known as Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan by about 1,000 AD. Starting in the late seventeenth century, a new sociopolitical order developed among the Luo of Northern Uganda, mainly characterized by the formation of chiefdoms headed by Rwodi (sg. Rwot, 'ruler'). The chiefs traditionally came from one clan, and each chiefdom had several villages made up of different patrilineal clans. By the mid-nineteenth century, about 60 small chiefdoms existed in eastern Acholi-land. During the second half of the nineteenth century, Arabic-speaking traders from the north started to call them Shooli, a term which was transformed into 'Acholi'.