Bambuti are pygmy hunter gatherers, one of the oldest indigenous people of the Congo region of Africa. They are made of bands which are relatively small in size, ranging from 15 to 60. Population is about 30,000 to 40,000 people. Four distinct cultures, within the Bambuti. These are the Efe, which speak the language of their Bantu tribe (the Balese or Mamvu), the Sua, who speak the language of their neighboring Budu, the Mbuti, who speak the language of the neighboring Bila, and a small subgroup of the aka who speak the language of the neighboring Mangbetu tribe. Colin Turnbull was recgonized with his book The forest people, an admiring study of the bambuti. In 1972, he did a sequel, the highly controversial Mountain People, which was about Ungada hunger-plagued Ik.