The Khoikhoi (; "people people" or "real people") or Khoi, spelled Khoekhoe in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography, are a group of Khoisan people native to southwestern Africa. Unlike the neighbouring San people, the Khoikhoi have traditionally practised pastoral agriculture. When European immigrants colonised the area after 1652, the Khoikhoi maintained large herds of Nguni cattle in the Cape region. The Dutch settlers labelled them Hottentots , in imitation of the sound of the Khoekhoe language, but this term is today considered derogatory.