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Group: Hema people
People: Mark Antony
Topic: Singara, Battle of

Hema people

Years: 820 - 2215

The Hema, or Hima or Huma, are an ethnic group with about 160,000 members located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the Ituri region and Orientale Province, as well as parts of Uganda and Rwanda.

The Hema are pastoralists and the preferential treatment given to them by Ugandan officials is blamed for igniting the recent Ituri conflict.

The northern Hema speak Lendu, the Nilo-Saharan language of the neighboring Lendu people.

The southern Hema still speak Hema, a Bantu language, and the closely related Hema dialect of Nyankore of western Uganda.

Languages that are also related are such languages as Lunyoro, Luganda and Lusoga.

Most Hema are Christians.