Member of any of several peoples living in Namibia and Cape Province of South Africa. They number about 30,000. Their language is related to San (spoken by the Kung) and uses clicks for certain consonants; it belongs to the Khoisan family. The Khoikhoi once inhabited a wider area, but were driven into the Kalahari Desert by invading Bantu peoples and Dutch colonists in the 18th century. They live as nomadic hunter-gatherers, in family groups, and have animist beliefs.
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