The Dinka belong to a larger group known as the Nilotics. The term "Dinka" was invented by outsiders. The people now known as the Dinka actually call themselves Muonjang or Jieng. Among the Dinka, only an educated minority knows that they are called Dinka.

The Central Dinka people came to North America as refugees from South Sudan due to war. The experience of Dinka refugees was portrayed in the documentary movie Lost Boys of Sudan by Megan Mylan.

Unlike the Arab, Sudanese who inhabited northern Sudan and adhered to Islam, the Dinka inhabited southern Sudan and mixed indigenous animist religious beliefs with Christianity.

Historically in South Sudan, the Dinka were mainly agripastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet (awuou) and other varieties of grains (rap) in fixed settlements during the rainy season.

Please note: The Sudanese people group cluster, numbering over 100,000, includes the Acholi, Anuak, Azande, Bari, Central Dinka, Jur Modo, Kaliko, Mabaan, Madi, Moru, Nuer, Shilluk, plus several other minority people groups. They are socially, culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse with each having their own unique people group identity.