Нзіма

Nzima (autonymously Nzɛma) is a Kwa language of the Niger-Congo family, spoken by around 330,000 people in the western Western Region of Ghana and adjacent eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The Nzima are most internationally famous as the home community of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's independence-era founding president, who was born in Nkroful in Nzemaland in 1909. Linguistically, Nzima is part of the Bia branch of Kwa, closely related to Ahanta and more distantly to the major Twi-Akan dialect cluster (ak). The Nzima maintain strong cultural traditions including the annual Kundum festival celebrated across Nzemaland in August/September. Nzima has a developed literary tradition supported by the Bureau of Ghana Languages, with primary education materials and Nzima-language radio programming on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.