Kanotta is played by the Lunda in the Mwinilunga District in the extreme northwest of Zambia, where it meets Angola and Congo. The Lunda number about 1.45 million people, who live in southern DR Congo, eastern Angola and the North-Western Province of Zambia. They were prosperous fishermen and farmers. In the 17th century they formed the Lunda Empire, a pre-colonial African confederation of states, under their ruler, Mwata Yamvo or Mwaant Yav, with their capital at Musumba.