The Dinka are the largest ethnic group in South Sudan, a Nilotic people traditionally organized into numerous independent, decentralized sections rather than a single unified kingdom, and historically dependent on cattle herding along the Nile's tributaries and seasonal floodplains, alongside sorghum and millet cultivation. Cattle hold deep economic, social and spiritual significance in Dinka life, central to bridewealth payments, sacrifice and personal identity, and Dinka age-set and lineage systems structure much of traditional social organization. The Dinka speak a Nilotic language and were prominent participants in South Sudan's long civil wars and its 2011 independence, with the country's first president, Salva Kiir, himself Dinka.
Facts
Group TypeSourced to the subject's own accountEthnic group (pastoralist) 1 Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountSouth Sudan, along the Nile from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, including Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile and the Abyei area. 1 Population EstimateSourced to the subject's own accountAbout 4.5 million according to the 2008 Sudan census, roughly 40 percent of South Sudan population and the country largest ethnic group. 1 Primary LanguageSourced to the subject's own accountDinka, described by the source as a single language whose regional dialects differ mainly in pronunciation. 1 Subsistence ModeSourced to the subject's own accountAgro-pastoralism, centered on cattle herding across seasonal highland, floodplain and swamp grazing zones. 1 Connections
Associated With
The Dinka of South Sudan, alongside the closely related Nuer, are the classic ethnographic case of ghost marriage, in which a deceased man is married by proxy so a kinsman can raise children in his name.
Source Wikipedia: Posthumous Marriage
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Dinka
WikipediaAgriculture and pastoral strategies section
The ecology of the large basin is unique; until recently, wild animals and birds flourished, rarely hunted by the agro-pastoralists.
Demographics section, opening paragraph
They number around 4.5 million, according to the 2008 Sudan census, constituting about 40% of the population of that country and the largest ethnic group in South Sudan.
Tribal groupings by region list
they speak the same language; only the pronunciation is slightly different.
Opening summary
The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and the Abyei area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan.
Demographics section
The Dinka refer to themselves as Muonyjang (singular) and jieng (plural).
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