[1] The Lozi comprise several tribes, including the Bamakoma, Kwanda, Lukolwe, Bafwe, Batotela, Bayeyi, Mbowe (Mamboe), Bambukushu, Mishulundu, Muenyi (Mwenyi), Mwanga, Ndundulu, Nygengo, Shanjo, Simaa, Basubia, and Batonga.

These tribes share common customs and traditions, with Silozi serving as the formal language for official, educational, and media purposes.

[2] The Lozi people are also known by various names such as Malozi, Nyambe, Makololo, Barotse, Rotse, Rozi, Rutse, Balozi, Balobedu, and Tozvi.

In about 1830, an army that originated in the Sotho-speaking Bafokeng region of South Africa, known as the Makololo, led by a warrior called Sebetwane, invaded Barotseland and conquered the Lozi.

The political organisation of the Lozi has long centred on a monarchy, whose reigning head, the Paramount King, is known as 'Litunga', which means 'keeper of the earth.'

The renowned Litunga Lewanika, whose latter name was a nickname from the Mbunda[4] meaning "unifier" following the Lozi revolt, reigned from 1878 to 1916, with a short insurrectionist break in 1884–85.

Yet the land remained under Rhodes's control, and when no valuable resources like gold, copper, or other exports were found in the territory, the "British South Africa Company defaulted on every commitment it had made to Lewanika," resulting in little progress in the development of infrastructure and education.

In the run-up to independence, the Litunga, the Ngambela (Prime Minister), and about a dozen senior indunas went to London for talks with the Colonial Office, in an attempt to have Barotseland remain a Protectorate.

The monarch, or Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE), is known as Mulonga, and Lozi society tolerates little criticism, even of an unpopular Litunga.

Lozi culture is strongly influenced by the flood cycle of the Zambezi River, with annual migrations taking place from the floodplain to higher ground at the start of the wet season.