Old African mask from the Azande, Congo. Hand carved from a single piece of wood. Height: 22 cm. The Azande (singular: Zande, also Zandeh, A-Zandeh, or Sandeh) or historically Niam Niam (now considered dejorative) are a tribe in northern Central Africa. Their number is estimated by various sources to be between 1 and 4 million. The name Azande means "the people who own much land" and refers to their past as powerful conquerors. The name Niam Niam was often used by European colonists in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It likely originated with the Dinka and means "big eaters" (and was also an onomatopoeia), which would refer to cannibalism among them. The name Azande was already used by other Sudanese peoples before the arrival of Europeans and was later adopted. The majority of the Azande live in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, western South Sudan, and southeastern Central African Republic. The Congolese Azande live in the former Orientale province (primarily along the Uele River), and the Central African Azande live around the towns of Obo, Rafaï, and Zémio. The Azande speak the Ubangi language Zande (proper name: Pazande), also called Azande, Badjange, Kizande, Sande, or Zandi. The Azande are primarily smallholder farmers, primarily growing maize, rice, peanuts, sesame, cassava, and sweet potato. They also cultivate mangoes, mandarins, bananas, pineapples, and sugar cane. There are also many oil palms in their territory. Much of the Azande land has been severely eroded over the years. The Azande are originally animists, but this belief has now largely been replaced by Christianity.