Introduction

 

The Ngbaka ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 1,010,000 in that country and 1,016,650 in all countries. About 600,000 are monolinguals. They reside in the Sud-Ubangi province: the Gemena territory area, in 850 villages.

The Ngbaka language is classified as Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, North, Adamawa-Ubangi, Ubangi, Gbaya-Manza-Ngbaka, East. The ISO code is [nga]. The people of this group are sometimes referred to as Ngbaka Gbaya, Ngbaka Minagende. Ngbaka Ma’bo is a distinct language. The Ngbaka language is related to the Gbaya languages of Central African Republic and Cameroon.

The speakers of Ngbaka highly value their language. Speakers of other languages, including Gilima, Mbandia, and Mono, also speak Ngbaka. Some Ngbaka also speak Lingala or French.

Interest in literacy programs has resulted in 150,000 people who can read Ngbaka, and 100,000 who can write it. Ngbaka has been taught in some of their primary schools.