Loading

  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Ethnic Groups Of Africa
The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having its own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan populations.

The official population count of the various ethnic groups in Africa is highly uncertain, both due to limited infrastructure to perform censuses and due to rapid population growth. Some groups have alleged that there is deliberate misreporting in order to give selected ethnicities numerical superiority (as in the case of Nigeria's Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo peoples).

A 2009 genetic clustering study, which genotyped 1327 polymorphic markers in various African populations, identified six ancestral clusters. The clustering corresponded closely with ethnicity, culture, and language. A 2018 whole genome sequencing study of the world's populations observed similar clusters among the populations in Africa. At K=9, distinct ancestral components defined the Afroasiatic-speaking populations inhabiting North Africa and Northeast Africa; the Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in Northeast Africa and East Africa; the Ari populations in Northeast Africa; the Niger-Congo-speaking populations in West-Central Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa; the Pygmy populations in Central Africa; and the Khoisan populations in Southern Africa.

Lists

By linguistic phylum

As a first overview, the following table lists major groups by ethno-linguistic affiliation, with rough population estimates (as of 2016):

Phylum Region Major groups Pop. (millions)
(2016) 		Number of groups
Afro-Asiatic North Africa, Horn of Africa, Sahel Amhara, Hausa, Oromo, Somali, Tigrayan 200 200-300
Niger-Congo West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa Akan, Fula, Igbo, Kongo, Mandé, Mooré, Shona, Yoruba, Zulu 900 1650
Nilo-Saharan Nile Valley, Sahel, East Africa Dinka, Kanuri, Luo, Maasai, Nuer, Songhai 60 80
Khoisan Southern Africa, Tanzania Nama, San, Sandawe 1 40-70
Austronesian Madagascar Malagasy 20 1
Indo-European Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Afrikaners, British, French 6 3
Total Africa 1.2 billion (UN 2016) c. 2,000

Major ethnic groups

The following is a table of major ethnic groups (10 million people or more):

Major ethnic groups Region Countries Language family Pop. (millions)
(year)
Akan West Africa Ghana, Ivory Coast Niger–Congo, Kwa 20
Amhara Horn of Africa Ethiopia Afro-Asiatic, Semitic 22 (2007)
Arabs North Africa Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania Afro-Asiatic, Semitic 100+ (2013)
Berbers North Africa Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania Afro-Asiatic, Berber 36 (2016)
Chewa Central Africa Malawi, Zambia Niger–Congo, Bantu 12 (2007)
Fulani West Africa Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone Niger–Congo, Senegambian 20
Hausa West Africa Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan Afro-Asiatic, Chadic 78 (2019)
Hutu Central Africa Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo Niger–Congo, Bantu 15
Igbo West Africa Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger 34 (2017)
Kanuri Central Africa Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon Nilo-Saharan, Saharan 10
Kongo Central Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Republic of the Congo Niger–Congo, Bantu 10
Luba Central Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo Niger–Congo, Bantu 15
Mongo Central Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo Niger–Congo, Bantu 15
Mossi West Africa Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger, Ghana, Mali, Togo Niger–Congo, Bantu 11
Nilotes Nile Valley, East Africa, Central Africa South Sudan, Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia Nilo-Saharan, Nilotic 22 (2007)
Oromo Horn of Africa Ethiopia, Kenya Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic 42 (2022)
Shona East Africa Zimbabwe and Mozambique Niger–Congo, Bantoid 15 (2000)
Somali Horn of Africa Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic 20 (2009)
Songhai West Africa Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Algeria Nilo-Saharan 8 (2019)
Yoruba West Africa Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger 40
Zulu Southern Africa South Africa Niger–Congo, Bantu 12 (2016)

See also