The Banda people are the largest single ethnic group in the Central African Republic. They are also found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, South Sudan and Chad.
They numbered about 1,300,000 at the beginning of the 21st century. The Banda speak a language of the Adamawa-Ubangi subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family that is related to that of their Gbaya and Ngbandi neighbours.
The Banda observe patrilineal descent and live in hamlets of dispersed homesteads under the local governance of a headman. Rural Banda raise corn (maize), cassava, peanuts (groundnuts), sweet potatoes, yams, and tobacco. Men hunt and fish, and women gather wild foods and cultivate crops. Banda craftsmen produce carved wooden ritual and utilitarian objects; they are best known for their large slit drums carved in the shapes of animals.
Photo Gallery: © Jordi Zaragozà Anglès / Central African Republic - 2025
Extended info about Banda People.