Tribes of Africa

The Igala are one of the many ethnic groups attributed to Nigeria’s cultural diversity. They are the 7th largest ethnicity in Nigeria. The Igala Kingdom was so large, it expanded down to the Benue and Niger rivers. Today, the Igala are found in the present-day local governments of Dekina, Bassa, Ajaka, Ofu, Ibaji, Lokoja, Ajaokuta, Omaha, Ankpa, Olamaboro, and Idah of the present-day Kogi state. I...

The Suri are an Agro-pastoral people that inhabit part of the Suri woreda, West Omo Zone of the South Western Ethiopia peoples regional state in Ethiopia, while the other live partly in neighbouring South Sudan. Suri is a collective name for three groups of – Suri Chai, Timaga, and Suri Baale –they are politically, territorially culturally the same. They all speak "South East Surmic" languages wit...

The Ijaws are a collection of people that are indigenous to the Niger Delta in Nigeria. And owing to the affinity they have with water, a good number of them are found as migrant fishermen in camps as far west as Sierra Leone and as far east as Gabon. With a population of over fourteen million, the Ijaws are unarguably the most populous tribe inhabiting the Niger Delta region and arguably the four...

Rwanda, Burundi, and the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to the Tutsi people. In the DRC, the Tutsi live near the city of Bukavu in the Mulenge region. Here, they are known as Ban-ya-mu-lenge. The Tutsi speak a Central Bantu language called Kin yar-wanda in Rwanda, and Kirundi in Burundi. Both are dialects of the same language. Like other Bantu languages, both use nou...

Mangbetu, also spelled Monbuttu, peoples of Central Africa living to the south of the Zande in north-eastern Congo (Kinshasa). They speak a Central Sudanic language of the Nilo-Saharan language family. The Mangbetu are a cluster of peoples who penetrated and now occupy the formerly Pygmy territory and who, in turn, subsequently absorbed waves of eastern peoples. The name Mangbetu refers, strictly...

The Iraqw are a Cushitic-speaking (a branch of the Afroasiatic language family) tribal group that live in the Arusha and Manyara regions of Tanzania, just south of the famous Ngorongoro Crater. There are around 350,000 believed to be living within the country and they are renowned for their sharply defined features. While many safaris often travel through Iraqw territory, they tend to be shy peopl...

The Songhai people (also Ayneha, Songhay or Sonrai) are an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and lingua franca is linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. Predominantly a Muslim community, the Songhai are found primarily throughout Niger and Mali in the Western Sudanic region (not the coun...

The Chagas who are also called Chagga or Wachagga are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru and near. The people of Chaga descended from various Bantu groups who migrated from somewhere in Africa. The Chaga area is traditionally divided into a number of chiefd...

The Baka people, known in the Congo as Bayaka (Bebayaka, Bebayaga, Bibaya),[1] are an ethnic group inhabiting the southeastern rain forests of Cameroon, northern Republic of the Congo, northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. They are sometimes called a subgroup of the Twa, but the two peoples are not closely related. Baka people are all hunter-gatherers, formerly called Pygmies,...

Bekwarra is a tribe of people domiciled in a 306 sq2 of land mass with unique and rich cultural practices like every other tribe in the paradise state. With a population of about 150,000 (2006 census), it boasts as one of the most populated local government area in the state. They have a unique language called Bekwarra. The word Bekwarra is both a name of a tribe, their language and a name of a lo...

The Kuri's are known as stevedores and fishermen throughout the west coast of Africa and have established colonies in most ports from Dakar, Senegal to Douala, Cameroon. They occupy nearly one third of Liberia. They are about 24 sub groups with dialectal and culturally differences. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at...

Isoko people are an ethnolinguistic group who inhabit the Isoko region of Delta State, and Bayelsa State Nigeria. They are people of southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger delta. Delta State and Bayelsa State are part of the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Isokos ethnic group is one of the smallest minority ethnic groups In the Niger Delta The Isokos speak the Isoko language,...

Mongo, any of several peoples living in the African equatorial forest, south of the main Congo River bend and north of the Kasai and Sankuru rivers in Congo (Kinshasa). They include such ethnic groups as the Bokote, Ekonda, Bolia, Sengele, Ntomba, Ndengese, Songomeno, Mbole, Bongandu, Boyela, Nkutu, and Tetela-Kusu. They speak dialects of a common language, Mongo or Nkundo, a member of the Benue-C...

The Mursi are an agro-pastoralist ethnic tribe living in southwestern Ethiopia, Africa. They inhabit the lower valley of the Omo River near the border of Ethiopia with South Sudan. Around 7,500 Mursi people live in the country according to the 2007 census in Ethiopia, with 92.25% of the population residing in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR). The Mursi dwelling in t...

The Aembu, are a Bantu tribe closely related to the Kikuyu and Meru. They majorly inhabit Kenya’s Embu district, which is a fertile agricultural region located at the foothills of Mount Kenya. They speak the Embu language. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4394444/advertisement

The Igede culture is perhaps one of the most fascinating cultures in Nigeria. Exceptionally proud of their native heritage, the Igede people have preserved many of their ancestors' traditions, a number of them present in their a mixture of elaborate traditional tales, artistic expressions, music, and varied cultural elements. Like any other society, Igede people reveal their customs, traditions, b...

The Ghomara are a group of tribes in northern Morocco, living between the rivers Oued Laou and Ouringa, east of Chefchaouen and south of Tetouan, in the Western Rif. The river Tiguisas runs through their territory. Originally, Ghomaras was a Berber tribal group belonging to the Masmuda confederacy. While most have shifted to speaking Arabic, a minority continue to speak the Berber Ghomara language...

Unlike other Zambian tribes which claim to have descended from the Luba-Lunda Kingdom in present day Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, the exact origin of the Tonga tribe is still unknown. Iron Age settlements from as early as the 7th century have been found in various parts of the Southern Province, with the most popular being Ingombe Ilede which is translated as ‘the sleeping cow’ due to...

Twa, also called Batwa, one of the best-known of the many Pygmy groups scattered across equatorial Africa. Like all other African Pygmies, the Twa, averaging about 5 feet (1.5 m) in height, are a people of mixed ancestry, probably descendants of the original inhabitants of the equatorial rainforest. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podca...

Chewa, Bantu-speaking people living in the extreme eastern zone of Zambia, northwestern Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique. They share many cultural features with their Bemba kinsmen to the west. Their language, Chewa, is also called Chichewa, Nyanja, or Chinyanja and is important in Malawi This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact...

Tutsi, also called Batusi, Tussi, Watusi, or Watutsi, ethnic group of probable Nilotic origin, whose members live within Rwanda and Burundi. The Tutsi formed the traditional aristocratic minority in both countries, constituting about 9 percent and 14 percent of the population, respectively. The Tutsis’ numbers in Rwanda were greatly reduced by a government-inspired genocidal campaign against them...

Ndebele, also called Transvaal Ndebele, any of several Bantu-speaking African peoples who live primarily in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces in South Africa. The Ndebele are ancient offshoots of the main Nguni-speaking peoples and began migrations to the Transvaal region in the 17th century. The main group of Transvaal Ndebele traces its ancestry to Musi, or Msi, who, with his followers, diver...

The Ovambo people, also called Aawambo, are a Southern African tribal ethnic group. They are found in Namibia’s northern regions and more often called Ovambo. The Ovambo people are synonymous with Namibia and are the largest cultural sector found in this country, representing over a third of Namibia’s total population. Concentrated mostly in the north, the Ovambo consist of eight tribes, namely th...

The first settlements of the Himba people can be traced back to the early 16th century when they crossed the Angolan border and chose Kaokoland (nowadays called Kunene region) as their new homeland. At that time, the word Himba did not exist because they had not yet separated themselves from the Herero tribe. At the end of the 19th century, Namibia was plagued by a relentless bovine epidemic. Most...

The Kamba or Akamba people are a Bantu ethnic tribe or group who live in the semi-arid formerly Eastern Province of Kenya which stretches east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu, Kenya. This land is called Ukambani which constitutes of Machakos County Makueni County and Kitui County. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, cont...