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Ethnic group Sotho people Basotho King Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Southern Basotho Nation of Lesotho, with his Ministers. Total population c. 7,254,315 (2023 est.) Regions with significant populations South Africa 5,103,205 Lesotho 2,130,110 Botswana 11,000 Eswatini 6,000 Namibia 4,000 Languages Sesotho IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, English, Afrikaans Religion Christianity, Modimo Related ethnic groups ...
The Sotho-Tswana ethnic group derives its name from the people who belong to the various Sotho and Tswana clans that live in southern Africa. Historically, all members of the group were referred to as Sothos; the name is now exclusively applied to speakers of Southern Sotho who live mainly in Lesotho and the Free State province in South Africa, while Northern Sotho is reserved for Sotho ...
Christians are scattered throughout the country, while Muslims live mainly in the northeastern part of the country. Most practitioners of Islam are of Asian origin, while the majority of Christians are the indigenous Basotho. Many Christians still practice their traditional cultural beliefs and rituals along with Christianity.
These rituals are important as they help define the social makeup of the Basotho communities as they turn 'boys to men' and 'girls to women'. [3] Basotho women during ritual. The areas are open for all people to see, however, some rituals are done in isolation and privacy as the Basotho community believes they require respect.
Badimo (Sotho-Tswana literally meaning "ancestors") is the name for the traditional African practice of ancestor veneration for the Sotho-Tswana people of Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa. Although most Sotho-Tswana people are Christians, [ 1 ] in reality a great majority of them follow at least some of the traditions deemed Badimo even if ...
Many traditional practices involve prayers, songs, and offerings to seek the favor or blessings of the divine. Although Modimo is the most powerful being in the order of creation of the Sotho-Tswana religion, he is often seen as a deistic god who can be appealed to through intermediaries like the ancestors or Badimo , who are believed to be ...
Ditaolane, also known as Moshanyana-wa-Senkatana or Senkatana (spelled as Litaolane and Moshanyana oa Senkatana in Lesotho Sesotho) is a hero and deity in the Basotho religion and mythology. Moshanyana-wa-Senkatana means "Senkatana's little boy" and Ditaolane comes from the Sotho-Tswana word for divination bones , ditaola , which he was born ...
The Pedi / p ɛ d i / or Bapedi / b æ ˈ p ɛ d i / - also known as the Northern Sotho, [2] Basotho ba Lebowa, bakgatla ba dithebe, [3] Transvaal Sotho, [4] Marota, or Dikgoshi [5] - are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group native to South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho that speak Pedi or Sepedi, [6] which is one of the 12 official languages in South Africa. [7]