African Tribes List

Indigenous Ethnic Groups of Africa

An African tribes list should include the largest and well know tribes such as the Zulu tribe. In addition, an African tribes list should include some the more interesting and exotic tribes such as the Hamer, Mursi, Himba, Surma, Herero, Erbore, Afar, Bozo, Karo, Daasanech, Bashada, Nyangatom, Bambara, Tsemai, Ari, and Bushmen tribes. Among the largest African tribes one would list the Oromo, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, as these are some the biggest indigenous African tribal groups. The Amhara and Somali from the Horn of Africa are also large ethnic groups having over twenty million individuals each. The Bantu people should also be included on any African tribes list as there are over 100 million people who speak Bantu languages. Other well known African tribes include the Maasai from Kenya and Tanzania who speak Maa, a language in the Nilo-Saharan language family. The Maasai number about 900,000 people, however it is difficult to obtain an exact number due to the nomadic lifestyle of the Maasai tribe. One problem with any list of African tribes is that the same African tribe usually goes by many names. A good example is the !Kung who are also called the Bushmen, San, Sho, Khwe, and the Basarwa.