MAP OF BANTU MOVEMENTS
The Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from Western Africa-- near modern-day Nigeria-- southward and eastward, spreading out across all of the southern half of the African continent. This migration started at about 1000 B.C.E., and ended at about 1700 A.D. although that date is still in dispute. The Bantu-speaking peoples brought agriculture to the southern half of Africa, which was mostly populated by foragers, herders, and hunter-gatherers. Bantu peoples settled land and created great empires like the Great Zimbabwe and the Zulu kingdom, and continued to expand and settle more land. This changed so much of Africa very dramatically. Bantu refers to several similar languages, or a 'family' of languages, that can be found throughout central and south Africa.