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Savanna People in Southeastern Zaire is an ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The eastern Shaba region expands from the border with Tanzania and Zambia to the Lualaba River. Three sets of communities are considered to inhabit the region such as the Bemba cluster, the Hemba cluster, and the Haut-Katanga cluster.
The Southeastern region of Zaire has a long history of invasion and tension. The majority of the people of Haut-Shaba were subjects of the Kazembe Kingdom of Luapula, which is derived from the Lunda Empire. The center of this kingdom was farther west. The Kaonde are the southwestern most people that belong to the Haut-Katanga cluster. These people live in the present-day Lualaba Sub region of Shaba Region who were ruled by an additional Lunda king.
In the late nineteenth century the Nyamwezi of central Tanzania who were a group of traders, founded the Yeke Kingdom and ruled for thirty years. The Yeke then influenced the social and the culture of the region. The new cultural elements and the trading activities of the Yekes were incorporated in their culture. Gradually, these kingdoms lost their identities and left their people with political units of much smaller size.
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