The Khoikhoi (/ˈkɔɪˌkɔɪ/; "people people" or "real people") or Khoi, spelled Khoekhoe in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography, are the native pastoralist people of southwestern Africa. They have lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD.[1] When European immigrants colonised the area after 1652, the Khoikhoi were practising extensive pastoral agriculture in the Cape region, with large herds of Nguni cattle. The Dutch settlers labelled them Hottentots (/ˈhɒtənˌtɒts/), in imitation of the sound of the Khoekhoe language,[2] but this term is today considered derogatory.[3]
Archaeological evidence shows that the Khoikhoi entered South Africa from Botswana through two distinct routes—travelling west, skirting the Kalahari to the west coast, then down to the Cape, and travelling south-east out into the Highveld and then southwards to the south coast.[4] Chiefly, the largest group of the Khoikhoi to remain as a group are the Namas.