Mangbetu, also spelled Monbuttu, peoples of Central Africa living to the south of the Zande in north-eastern Congo (Kinshasa). They speak a Central Sudanic language of the Nilo-Saharan language family. The Mangbetu are a cluster of peoples who penetrated and now occupy the formerly Pygmy territory and who, in turn, subsequently absorbed waves of eastern peoples.
The name Mangbetu refers, strictly speaking, only to the aristocracy, which in the 19th century established a number of powerful kingdoms; in looser usage it denotes the whole amalgam of peoples they ruled. The Mangbetu subsist by hoe cultivation, with some fishing, hunting, and gathering. They also raise cattle; in contrast to other Sudanic peoples, among the Mangbetu only the men do the milking. Yams and plantains are the staple crops.