Xhosa nation is made up of tribes and clans. Clans are groups of families with different surnames but sharing one clan name. For example, Radebe is the clan, but the nation is called AmaHlubi. The clan name is the name of the first ancestor or family that gave birth to the clan. Clans make up tribes and tribes make up nations.

IsiXhosa is the language spoken and has clicks, for example the X, Q, KR and CG in the English language are letters that form the clicks. Storytelling plays a big part in the culture, and even the music is a form of storytelling. Xhosa dance is something of a wonder, especially the dance form called umtyityimbo, which requires dancers to make their upper bodies tremble and vibrate while dancing.