Luo

Africaintensive agriculturalists
Map
expand_more Description

The Luo live mostly in western Kenya with a significant presence in the adjoining parts of Uganda and Tanzania. Traditional Luo society had a strong egalitarian ethos and lacked centralized authority. Lineage membership was the primary structuring principle of social organization. The Luo, together with other culturally and linguistically related Nilotic-speaking peoples of southern Sudan and northern Uganda, were regarded as classic examples of African segmentary lineage systems. Luo subsistence depended upon a mixture of agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, some handcrafts, small-scale commerce and urban-based employment.

Identifier
Region
  • Africa
Subregion
  • Eastern Africa
Subsistence Type
  • intensive agriculturalists
Samples
Countries
  • Kenya
  • Tanzania
  • Uganda
External Links