Ila people
Bantu ethnic group of Zambia inhabiting the Kafue Flats west of Lusaka, primarily in Namwala, Itezhi-Tezhi and Mumbwa districts; combine agriculture with cattle herding; also known as Baila or Sukulumbwe; closely related to the Tonga people
The Ila people are an ethnic group in The Republic of Zambia who make up 0.8 percent of the total population.
The Ila are closely related in language and culture to their more numerous Tonga neighbours in Southern Province. The Ila people mainly reside in Namwala District, which is the principal town for the Ila, Itezhi-Tezhi and Mumbwa districts spread across seventeen chiefdoms. Most Ila grow enough food to feed their families and to cover expenses for physical needs and their children's educational expenses. More educational and career opportunities are available in the larger towns and village centers. Some Ila raise animals such as chickens, goats, or pigs on a small scale, and mostly cows, though that is usually for tradition and prestige. In fact, the belief that cows are a sign of wealth and value undergirds an Ila funeral tradition. The funeral ceremony lasts several days. On the day after burial, cows are slaughtered. It is believed that the more that are killed, the greater the value of the dead person in the eyes of the community.
The public source identifies “Ila people” as bantu ethnic group of Zambia inhabiting the Kafue Flats west of Lusaka, primarily in Namwala, Itezhi-Tezhi and Mumbwa districts; combine agriculture with cattle herding; also known as Baila or Sukulumbwe; closely related to the Tonga people. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around people, Bantu and ethnic.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q25039574. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ila people” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.