The Hune are an ethnolinguistic group of about 200,000 people (as of 1980) located in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Hunde live in the province of Nord-Kivu and the regions of Masisi and Rutshuru. According to Ethnologue, the linguistic lineage of the Hunde is Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, J, and Shi-Havu. The language of the Hunde is Kihunde, and alternate names are Kobi and Rukobi. The history of the Hunde since national independence has been bound up with that of the Kinyarwanda-speaking population in the region, including the recent First and Second Congo Wars.