The top 10 Major African Tribes

Africa is blessed with over 3000 tribes. From the Arab to the Akan, to the Amhara, etc this diversity of African tribes makes the continent unique, beautiful and habitable.

As the second largest continent in the World, Africa is known for its many natural resources, these resources are not just limited to the mineral resources but human resources, diversity of tongues among others.

Apart being being the only continent on earth that span from South to Northern hemisphere, Africa is often considered as the birthplace of civilization and recently some sets of scientist traced the origin of creation to Africa.

African tribes are very unique and they are mainly differentiated based on their way of life, language and perhaps political, religious and social orientation.

These are the top 10 Major African Tribes

1. Arab
2. Akan
3. Amhara
4. Berber
5. Fulani
6. Hausa
7. Hutu
8. Igbo
9. Ijaw
10. Kongo
11. Mandinka
12 Oromo
13. Somali
14. Shona
15. Yoruba
16. Zulu
17. Ibibio
18. Annang, etc, but we will focus only on 10.

1. Arab

The Arabs predominantly resides in Northern Africa ( From Morocco to Algeria Tunisia and Libya). They are mostly called Maghrebi Arabs.The spread of the Arab tribe in Africa started with the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642. Currently the Arabic is the number most spoken language in Africa.

2. Akan

The Akan is a tribe in Ghana and their main language is Twi/Fante, they have 9 sub groups which includes:

• Agona
• Akuapem
• Akwamu
• Akyem
• Asante
• Bono
• Fante

3. Amharas

The Amharas are predominantly Orthodox christian, they made up about 26.9% of Ethiopia’s population. Their main language is Amharic.

4. Zulu

This is the largest ethnic group in South Africa

5. Hausa

Hausa is the largest ethnic group in Africa. Spanning from Northern Nigeria,Togo, Niger the Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon,Benin,Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, Eritrea, Chad to Gabon.

6. Hutu

Hutu are primarily from Burundi and Rwanda, but they also form a major ethnic group in Democratic Republic of the Congo alongside Tutsi and Twa.

7. Yoruba

Yoruba is a major tribe in Western Africa, with the majority of the population from Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast

8. Oromo

The Oromo are Cushitic People that are mainly native to Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and part of Australia

9. Igbo

The Igbo is a tribe in South Eastern Nigeria, their main language is Igbo language.

10. Fulani

The Fula or the Fulani is one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa. They are mainly native to Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Benin, Central African Republic, Ghana, Chad, Guinea, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Mali and Niger