The Bafuliiru people (also known as the Fuliiru, Bafuliru, Kifuliru, Kifuliiru, Bafuliru, Bafuliiru and Bafuliru) are a
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
* Black Association for Nationa ...
ethnic group, a sub-group of the
Kivu
Kivu was the name for a large "region" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" ("Sous-Régions" in French): Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, correspon ...
.
["Fuliiru." ''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East, Volume 1'' (Jamie Stokes, editor) (2009). Infobase: p. 234.][Johan Pottier, ''Re-Imagining Rwanda: Conflict, Survival and Disinformation in the Late Twentieth Century'' (2002). Cambridge University Press: p. 16.][Furiiru]
" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (16th ed) (2009). M. Paul Lewis (editor), 2009. Dallas: SIL International.
The Furiiru mainly inhabit the east-central highlands of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(Zaire), in the
South Kivu
South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital is Bukavu.
History
South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu District in 1989, when the ex ...
province south of
Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, whic ...
and north and northwest of
Uvira
Uvira is a city in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uvira is a Roman Catholic diocese, a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bukavu.
Geography
It is located at the extreme north end of Lake Tanganyika. Kalundu is a lake p ...
, along the
Ruzizi plain near the border with
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
and
Burundi
Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...
, where some Furiiru also live.
[James Stuart Olson, ''The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary''. Greenwood: 1996, p. 183.] In 2009, their population estimate numbered over 250,000.
A 1999 estimate of Furiiru-language speakers placed the number at 300,000.
The Furiiru are connected to the
Vira in a Furiiru-Vira culture cluster.
[Daniel P. Biebuyck, ''Lega Culture: Art, Initiation, and Moral Philosophy Among a Central African People''. University of California Press: 1973, p. 20 and p. 183.] Both groups are