List of African ethnic groups: Wikis

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See Demographics of Africa for population statistics.

Ethnic groups in Africa number in the hundreds, each generally having its own language (or dialect of a language) and culture.

The various ethnic groups and nations of Africa have almost always been identified as tribes, although some scholars such as Nigerian author Chinua Achebe have challenged this because of its possible wrong definition for some groups (in his case, the Igbo of Nigeria) and possible negative connotations.^[1]

1 Overview
2 List
3 See also
4 References

Overview

For more details on this topic, see Demographics of Africa.

The following ethnic groups number 10 million people or more:

Arabic speaking groups: ca. 180 million. See also Ethnic groups of the Middle East
- Arabs, up to ca. 145 million, depending on definition, see Demographics of the Arab League
- Egyptians, ca. 80 million.
- Berber ca. 20 million
Hausa of Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Sudan (ca. 30 million)
Yoruba of Nigeria and Benin (ca. 30 million)
Oromo of Ethiopia and Kenya (ca. 30 million)
Igbo of Nigeria and Cameroon (ca. 30 million)^[2]
Amhara of Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti (ca. 20 million)
Somali of Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti (ca. 15-17 million)
Ijaw of Nigeria (ca. 15 million)
Fula of Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Chad, Sudan, Togo and Côte d'Ivoire (ca. 10 million)
Shona of Zimbabwe and Mozambique (ca. 10 million)
Zulu of South Africa (ca. 10 million)

The official population count of the various ethnic groups in Africa has, in some instances, been controversial because certain groups believe populations are fixed to give other ethnicities numerical superiority, such as in the case of Nigeria and the Igbo people.^[3]^[4]^[5]

List

Central Africa

Name	Phylum	Language	Region	Country	Population (million)	Notes
Cewa	Niger-Congo, Bantu	Chichewa language	Central/Southern		9
Chokwe	Niger-Congo, Bantu		Central	Angola, Congo (Kinshasa), Zambia	1.1
Ganda					-
Kongo					10
Lingala					2
Luba
Mbundu
Zande
Ovimbundu					4.6

East Africa

Name	Phylum	Language	Region	Country	Population (million)	Notes
Alur
Baganda	Niger-Congo, Bantu	Luganda language	East, Great Lakes	Uganda	3
Busoga	Niger-Congo, Bantu	Lusoga language	East, Great Lakes	Uganda
Hutu	Niger Congo, Bantu	Kinyarwanda/Kirundi	East, Great Lakes	Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo	16
Kamba				Kenya
Kalenjin				Kenya
Kikuyu				Kenya
Kwale
Luo				Kenya
Luhya				Kenya
Maasai				Kenya
Makonde
Samburu				Kenya
Tutsi	Niger-Congo, Bantu	Kinyarwanda/Kirundi	East Africa, Great Lakes	Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo	3

Horn of Africa

Name	Phylum	Language	Region	Country	Population (million)	Notes
Afar	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	Afar	Horn of Africa	Eritrea, Ethiopia	1.5
Agaw	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	Agaw	Horn of Africa	Ethiopia, Eritrea	1
Amhara	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	Amharic	Horn of Africa	Ethiopia	20
Beja	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	Beja	Horn of Africa	Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt	2
Gurage	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	Gurage	Horn of Africa	Ethiopia	1.9
Oromo	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	Oromo	Horn of Africa	Ethiopia, Kenya	30
Saho	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	Saho	Horn of Africa	Eritrea, Ethiopia	0.2
Somali	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	Somali	Horn of Africa	Somalia	20
Tigray	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	Tigrinya	Horn of Africa	Eritrea, Ethiopia	6.7
Tigre	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	Tigre	Horn of Africa	Eritrea, Sudan	1.5

North Africa

Name	Phylum	Language	Region	Country	Population (million)	Notes
Egyptians	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	Arabic	North Africa	Egypt	83
Berbers	Afro-Asiatic, Berber	Berber	Maghreb	Morocco, Algeria , Libya	73
Dinka	Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic	Dinka language	Southern Sudan	Sudan	1
Nubians	Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic	Nobiin	Northeast Africa	Sudan, Egypt	0.5

Southern Africa

Name	Phylum	Language	Region	Country	Population (million)	Notes
Afrikaner	Indo-European	Afrikaans		South Africa, Namibia	3.0	descendants of early northwestern European settlers
San (Bushmen)					0.09
Ambo (Ovambo, Owambo, Kwanyama)				Namibia	0.9
Bemba	Niger-Congo, Bantu	Bemba language	Southern	Zambia	0.2
Herero					0.2
Himba					0.05
Khoi Khoi (Hottentot)					-
Makua					1.1
Ndebele	Bantu, Nguni	Ndebele			5
Shona		Shona			10.6
Swazi	Bantu, Nguni	Swazi			1.1
Venda	Bantu	Venda			1
Xhosa	Bantu, Nguni	Xhosa			7.9
Zulu	Bantu, Nguni	Zulu			10.6

West Africa

Name	Phylum	Language	Region	Country	Population (million)	Notes
Akan	Niger-Congo, Kwa	Akan languages	West	Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire		a group of eight related sub-ethnicities
Aku	(Creole)	Aku language	West	Gambia	0.01
Ashanti	Niger-Congo, Kwa, Akan	Twi	West	Ghana	5
Asua (Aka)		Mali
Bambara	Niger-Congo, Mande	Bambara language	West	Mali	3
Basaa	Niger-Congo, Bantu	Basaa language	West	Cameroon	0.2
Bassa	Niger-Congo, Kru	Bassa language	West	Liberia	0.3
Bini (also called, Edo or Benin)		Nigeria
Edo (also called Bini or Benin)
Efik	Niger-Congo	Efik language	West Africa	Nigeria, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons
Eket	Niger-Congo		West Africa	Nigeria, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons
Ewe
Ewondo
Fanti
Fulani
Ga
Gwari
Hausa
Igbo (Ibo)	Niger-Congo	Igbo language, Igboid languages	West Africa	Nigeria, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons	30^[2]	Includes various different subgroups.
Ishan
Ijaw	Niger-Congo	Ijo, Ijoid languages	West Africa	Nigeria	14 ^[6]	Sub-groups include Andoni, Ibani, Kalabari, Nembe, Ogbia and Okrika.
[Jaba (Ham)]Jola
Mandinka
Marka also Maraka
Meta also Metta	Widikum, Bantu, Semi-Bantu, Bantoid	Meta	West, Central	Cameroon, Southern Cameroons
Mende
Songhai
Tiv
Urhobo
Wolof
Yoruba

References

^ Achebe, Chinua (2000). Home and Exile. Oxford University Press US. p. 4. ISBN 0-195-13506-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=BZc25_jgOhgC&printsec=frontcover&dq#PPA4,M1. "...Igbo people would score very poorly indeed on the Oxford dictionary test for tribe... Now, to call them a nation... This may not be perfect for the Igbo, but it is close."
^ ^a ^b Sources vary widely about the population. Mushanga, p. 166, says "over 20 million"; Nzewi (quoted in Agawu), p. 31, says "about 15 million"; Okafor, p. 86, says "about twenty-five million"; Okpala, p. 21, says "around 30 million"; and Smith, p. 508, says "approximately 20 million".
^ Onuah, Felix (29 December 2006). "Nigeria gives census result, avoids risky details". Reuters. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29819278.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
^ Lewis, Peter (2007). Growing Apart: Oil, Politics, and Economic Change in Indonesia and Nigeria. University of Michigan Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-472-06980-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=T4-rlVeb1n0C&pg=PA132. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
^ Suberu, Rotimi T. (2001). Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria. US Institute of Peace Press. p. 154. ISBN 1-929-22328-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC&pg=PA154. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publcations/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html

Ethnic groups in Africa

Sovereign states	Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) · Djibouti · Egypt¹ · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Sudan · Swaziland · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe

States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic · Somaliland

Dependencies, autonomies, other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberanía (Spain) · Madeira (Portugal) · Mayotte / Réunion (France) · Puntland (Somalia) · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) · Southern Sudan (Sudan) · Zanzibar (Tanzania)

¹ Transcontinental country.

Indigenous peoples of the world by continent

Indigenous peoples by geographic regions

Ethnicity

related concepts	nation, nationality, national minority, tribe, clan, indigenous people, ethno-linguistic group, ethno-religious group, Ethnic group, population, race, meta-ethnicity, panethnicity

Ethnology	Anthropology, Ethnography, Ethnolinguistics, Ethnotaxonomy, Ethnopoetics, Ethnobotany, Ethnomathematics, Ethnogeology

ethnic groups by region	Africa (Arab League) · Asia (West Asia · South Asia · Southeast Asia · East Asia · Central Asia · Northern Asia) · Europe · Americas (indigenous · USA · Canada · Central America · South America) · Australia (indigenous) · Oceania (indigenous · European)

identity and ethnogenesis	demonym, endonym, tribal name, cultural identity, national identity, origin myth, mores, national myth, folk religion, national language, nation state, tribalism, lineage-bonded society, pantribal sodalities, nation-building, cultural assimilation, imagined communities, cross-race effect

multiethnic society	minority rights, indigenous rights, consociationalism, dominant minority, ethnocracy, ethnic interest group, diaspora politics, ethnopluralism

ideology and ethnic conflict	ethnic nationalism, indigenism, ethnocentrism, autonomist movements, xenophobia, ethnic cleansing, genocide, cultural genocide, ethnocide, ethnic stereotype

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