List of ethnic groups of Africa

"Africans" redirects here. For the language, see Afrikaans. For other uses, see African.

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

1996 map of the major ethnolinguistic groups of Africa, by the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division (substantially based on G.P. Murdock, Africa, its peoples and their cultural history, 1959). Colour-coded are 15 major ethnolinguistic super-groups, as follows:
Afroasiatic
     Hamitic (Berber, Cushitic) + Semitic (Ethiopian, Arabic)
     Hausa (Chadic)
Niger–Congo
     Bantu
     "Guinean" (Volta-Niger, Kwa, Kru)
     "Western Bantoid" (Atlantic)
     "Central Bantoid" (Gur, Senufo)
     "Eastern Bantoid" (Southern Bantoid)
     Mande
Nilo-Saharan (unity debated)
     Nilotic
     Central Sudanic, Eastern Sudanic (besides Nilotic)
     Kanuri
     Songhai
other
     Khoi-San (unity doubtful; Khoikhoi, San, Sandawe + Hadza)
     Malayo-Polynesian (Malagasy)
     Indo-European (Afrikaaner)

The official population count of the various ethnic groups in Africa is highly uncertain 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).^[1][2][3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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):^{[citation needed]}

Phylum	Region	Major groups	Pop. (millions) (2016)[citation needed]	Number of groups
Afro-Asiatic	North Africa, Horn of Africa, Sahel	Amhara, Hausa, Oromo, Somali, Tigrayan	200	200-300[6]
Niger-Congo	West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa	Akan, Fula, Igbo, Kongo, Mandé, Mooré, Shona, Yoruba, Zulu	900	1650[6]
Nilo-Saharan	Nile Valley, Sahel, East Africa	Dinka, Kanuri, Luo, Maasai, Nuer, Songhai	60	80[6]
Khoisan	Southern Africa, Tanzania	Nama, San, Sandawe	1	40-70[6]
Austronesian	Madagascar	Malagasy	20	1[7]
Indo-European	Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa	Afrikaners, British, French	6	3[8]
Total	Africa		1.2 billion (UN 2016)	c. 2,000[9]

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[year needed]
Amhara	Horn of Africa	Ethiopia	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	22 (2007)
Arabs	North Africa	Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	100+ (2013)[10]
Berbers	North Africa	Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania	Afro-Asiatic, Berber	36 (2016)[11][12][13]
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[year needed]
Hausa	West Africa	Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan	Afro-Asiatic, Chadic	78 (2019)[14]
Hutu	Central Africa	Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo	Niger–Congo, Bantu	15[year needed]
Igbo	West Africa	Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon	Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger	34 (2017)
Kanuri	West Africa	Nigeria,[15] Niger,[16] Chad,[17] Cameroon[18]	Nilo-Saharan, Saharan	10[year needed]
Kongo	Central Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Republic of the Congo	Niger–Congo, Bantu	10[year needed]
Luba	Central Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Niger–Congo, Bantu	15[year needed]
Mongo	Central Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Niger–Congo, Bantu	15[year needed]
Mossi	West Africa	Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger, Ghana, Mali, Togo	Niger–Congo, Bantu	11[year needed]
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[year needed]
Zulu	Southern Africa	South Africa	Niger–Congo, Bantu	12 (2016)

See also

• African diaspora – Spread of people with African heritage
• Bantu peoples – Ethnolinguistic group in Africa
• Demographics of Africa
• Genetic history of Africa
• Indigenous peoples of Africa
• Languages of Africa