What are the largest tribes in Africa?

Africa's largest peoples, each numbering in the tens of millions, include the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo of Nigeria, the Oromo and Amhara of Ethiopia, and the Fulani, who are spread across West Africa. Most scholars call these ethnic groups or peoples instead of tribes, because the word carries colonial baggage in Africa.

Africa has well over a thousand ethnic groups and more than 2,000 languages. Exact population figures are uncertain, because many countries do not publish census data by ethnicity. Rankings found online should be treated as rough estimates, not as official counts.

The peoples most often named as the largest are the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo in Nigeria, the Oromo and Amhara in Ethiopia, the Fulani across West and Central Africa, and the Amazigh, also called Berbers, across North Africa. The Zulu are the largest group in South Africa.

Many African writers object to 'tribe' for such large societies. Peoples of this size have had kingdoms, cities and written literature, and the word was applied to them by colonial rulers who did not use it for Europeans. 'People', 'nation' or 'ethnic group' is usually preferred.

In international discussions, 'indigenous peoples' in Africa usually refers to particular groups whose ways of life set them apart and who face discrimination, such as the San of southern Africa, the Maasai of East Africa, the Batwa of the Great Lakes region and the Mbororo of Central Africa.

Words used here

Sources

• Wikipedia: List of ethnic groups of Africaen.wikipedia.org
• IWGIA: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairsiwgia.org

Related questions

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