The Eastern Nilotic languages are one of the three primary branches of the Nilotic languages, themselves belonging to the Eastern Sudanic subfamily of Nilo-Saharan; they are believed to have begun to diverge about 3,000 years ago, and have spread southwards from an original home in Equatoria in South Sudan.
They are spoken across a large area in East Africa, ranging from Equatoria to the highlands of Tanzania.
According to Vossen (1982), the Eastern Nilotic languages are basically classified as follows by the comparative method.
It is generally agreed upon that Bari forms a primary branch, but lower-level splits are less clear.
[1] Sample basic vocabulary of Eastern Nilotic languages from Vossen (1982):