Tribes of Africa

Tanzania’s largest tribal group is the Sukuma, a Bantu group of around 5.5 million people that lives in the north of the country and around the southern shores of Lake Victoria. The name “Sukuma” actually means “north” and is used in reference to the “people of the north”. While the majority live in rural areas, some also inhabit cities, particularly Mwanza and Shinyanga where they’ve adapted to m...

The Afizere people are an ethnic group that occupy Jos East, Jos North, parts of Jos South Local Government Areas of Plateau State and parts of Toro and Tafewa Balewa local government Areas of Bauchi state, Nigeria. The Afizere are speakers of Izere Language. they are surrounded by the Berom to the west, Mwaghavul in Mangu to the south, Anaguta people to the northwest. This show is part of the Spr...

The Kalanga or Bakalanga are a southern Bantu ethnic group mainly inhabiting Matebeleland in Zimbabwe, northeastern Botswana and Limpopo Province in South Africa. They are historically related to the Nambya, Karanga and Venda. 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 largest of Kenya’s tribes, the Kikuyu tribe live in area around Mount Kenya where, at the dawn the colonial era, they came into violent conflict with the European settlers, to whom large tracts of Kikuyu people homeland had been apportioned by the colonial government. They number more than three million This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on th...

anda, also called Baganda, or Waganda, people inhabiting the area north and northwest of Lake Victoria in south-central Uganda. They speak a Bantu language—called Ganda, or Luganda—of the Benue-Congo group. The Ganda are the most numerous people in Uganda and their territory the most productive and fertile. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on th...

The Hadzabe are one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes in the world, with just 1,200-1,300 believed to live in Tanzania today. Rather than keeping livestock and tending the land, they spend their days hunting and foraging for food, maintaining a simple diet that’s changed little throughout the centuries. They inhabit caves and establish simple dwellings around Lake Eyasi, just to the sou...

The Hutu, also called Bahutu or Wahutu, Bantu-speaking people of Rwanda and Burundi. Numbering about 9,500,000 in the late 20th century, the Hutu comprise the vast majority in both countries but were traditionally subject to the Tutsi , warrior-pastoralists of Nilotic stock. When the Hutu first entered the area, they found it inhabited by the Twa, Pygmy hunters whom they forced to retreat. Hutu li...

The Kalabari is a tribe of the Ijaw people of Rivers state living in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Kalabari people are ijaw speaking settlers who came from the Bini fringes of Ijaw land from the lineage of a man called Mein Owei. 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/advertisem...

Hamar people are a community inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia. They live in Hamer woreda a fertile part of the Omo River valley, in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations. They consist of over 46,532 people. They are largely pastoralists, so their culture places a high value on cattle. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contac...

The Banyankole is located in south-western Uganda. The Mugabe [king] was an absolute ruler. He claimed all the cattle throughout the country as his own. Chiefs were ranked by the number of cattle they possessed. 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 social world of Zezuru, the Shona-speaking peoples who live in the Harare region of Zimbabwe, is divided into various categories. Mwari, or God, heads the whole world, which is then divided up into two elements: Shona, consisting of the various clans which are linked to the hero spirits and are further divided into lineages, linked to the ancestors; and non-Shona, made up of the observable wor...

Situated in the present day Rivers and Akwa Ibom state, the Adoni people are a part of the Ijaw tribe and known to be related to the Annang, Ibibio and Efik people of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State in Nigeria. According to some historians, evidence of traditional history shows that the Andoni are descended from Ayama the son of Tara (Tarakiri) who was left with Kala-Okun at Igbedi creek. Th...

Baganda tribes are called as Kings Men because of the significant role of their king-the Kabaka in their political, social and cultural institution. The Kabaka ruled over a hierarchy of chiefs who collected taxes in the form of food and livestock. All of the portions received are distributed through the hierarchy, eventually reaching the Kabaka’s palace in the form of taxes. This show is part of t...

Yakö, also spelled Yako or Yakurr, people of the Cross River region of eastern Nigeria; they speak Luko, a language of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo family. The Yakö are mainly yam farmers; subsidiary crops include cocoyams (taro), corn (maize), okra, and pumpkin. The main cash crop is palm oil. The Yakö occupy compact villages divided into wards, each containing several patrilineal cl...

The Damara, also called Daman or Damaqua, are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia's population. They speak the Khoekhoe language and the majority live in the northwestern regions of Namibia, however they are also found widely across the rest of the country. They have no known cultural relationship with any of the other tribes anywhere else in Africa and very little is known of their origin...

Mbembe, is a group of people living along the middle Cross River in Nigeria. Numbering about 100,000 in the late 20th century, they speak the language of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo family. The Mbembe cultivate yams, rice, cocoyams (taro), and cassava. In modern times wage laborers generally clear the fields and cultivate the yams. The land is either followed after one year or plante...