 Together with the Nambya language, these varieties form the western branch of the group (Guthrie S.10) that also includes Central Shona.Kalanga-speakers once numbered over 500,000, though they are now much reduced, often speaking Ndebele or Central Shona languages in Zimbabwe, Tswana in Botswana, and other local languages of the surrounding peoples of southern Africa.The BaKalanga are one of the largest ethnolinguistic groups in Botswana.