Ethnic Groups in Africa - Overview

Overview

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

The following ethnic groups number 10 million people or more:

• Arab, up to ca. 100 million, see Demographics of the Arab League
• Berber ca. 65 million
• Hausa in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Sudan (ca. 30 million)
• Igbo in Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea (ca. 30 million)
• Yoruba in Nigeria and Benin (ca. 30 million)
• Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya (ca. 30 million)
• Fula in Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Chad, Sudan, Togo and Ivory Coast (ca. 27 million)
• Akan in Akanland and Ivory Coast (ca. 20 million)
• Amhara in Ethiopia (ca. 20 million)
• Somali in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya (ca. 15-17 million)
• Hutu in Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo (ca. 16 million)
• Ijaw in Nigeria (ca. 14 million)
• Luba in Democratic Republic of the Congo (ca. 13 million)
• Mandinka in The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Mauritania, Chad (ca. 13 million)
• Mongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo (ca. 12 million)
• Kongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Republic of the Congo (ca. 10 million)
• Shona in Zimbabwe and Mozambique (ca. 10 million)
• Zulu in 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 Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo people.