Tags: Ethnic Group.
The Venda (Vhavhenda or Vhangona) are a Southern African people living mostly near the South African-Zimbabwean border. When the bantustan of Venda received nominal independence in 1973 their population stood at 200000.[citation needed] In 1996 there were 500000 Venda speakers.[citation needed] The 2001 census revealed that there were 800000 Venda speakers in South Africa while the 2011 census indicated 1.2 million speakers of the language in South Africa.[citation needed].