Khoikhoi in the context of "Ethnic groups of Africa"

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⭐ Core Definition: Khoikhoi

Khoikhoi (/ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ KOY-koy) (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "foragers") peoples, the accepted term for the two people being Khoisan. The designation "Khoikhoi" is actually a kare or praise address, not an ethnic endonym, but it has been used in the literature as an ethnic term for Khoe-speaking peoples of Southern Africa, particularly pastoralist groups, such as the Inqua, Griqua, Gonaqua, Nama, Attequa. The Khoekhoe were once known as Hottentots, a term now considered offensive.

The Khoekhoe are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. In the 17th century, the Khoekhoe maintained large herds of Nguni cattle in the Cape region. They mostly gave up nomadic pastoralism in the 19th to 20th century.

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👉 Khoikhoi in the context of Ethnic groups of Africa

The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan populations.

The official population count of the various ethnic groups in Africa is highly uncertain due to limited infrastructure to perform censuses, and due to rapid population growth. Some groups have alleged that there is deliberate misreporting in order to give selected ethnicities numerical superiority (as in the case of Nigeria's Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo peoples).

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Khoikhoi in the context of Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars

The Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars (or Khoekhoe–Dutch Wars) refers to a series of armed conflicts that took place in the latter half of the 17th century in what was then known as the Cape of Good Hope, in the area of present-day Cape Town, South Africa, fought primarily between Dutch settlers, who came mostly from the Dutch Republic (today the Netherlands and Belgium) and the local African people, the indigenous Khoikhoi.

Under the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and starting in 1652, colonists (Vrijburghers) – initially and predominantly the VOC's European employees and emancipated servants, but later also including a minority of the VOC's Asian and African employees and emancipated servants and slaves – were permanently settled at the Cape of Good Hope on land which had been seized from the indigenous people, including the Khoikhoi (called Hottentots or Kaffirs by the Dutch), and the Bushmen (also known as the San), collectively referred to as the Khoisan.

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Khoikhoi in the context of Gonaqua

The Gonaqua (or Ghonaqua or Gonaguas, meaning "borderers") were an Khoikhoi ethnic group, descendants of a very old union between the Khoikhoi and the Xhosa. This union predates the arrival of Europeans in South Africa. The Gonaqua have been regarded as outcasts by the Bantus. They were targets during the Second Frontier War, but received protection from the British.

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Khoikhoi in the context of Weenen massacre

The Weenen massacre (Afrikaans: Bloukransmoorde) was the massacre of Voortrekkers, Khoikhoi and Basuto by the Zulu Kingdom on 17 February 1838. The massacres occurred at Doringkop, Bloukrans River, Moordspruit, Rensburgspruit and other sites around the present day town of Weenen in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.

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Khoikhoi in the context of Outeniqua Mountains

The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountains to the east. It was known as Serra de Estrella (Mountain of the Star) to the Portuguese. The mountains are part of the Garden Route of South Africa.

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