# List of ethnic groups of Africa

The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan populations.
The official population count of the various ethnic groups in Africa is highly uncertain due to limited infrastructure to perform censuses, and due to rapid population growth. Some groups have alleged that there is deliberate misreporting in order to give selected ethnicities numerical superiority (as in the case of Nigeria's Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo peoples).
A 2009 genetic clustering study, which genotyped 1327 polymorphic markers in various African populations, identified six ancestral clusters. The clustering corresponded closely with ethnicity, culture, and language. A 2018 whole genome sequencing study of the world's populations observed similar clusters among the populations in Africa. At K=9, distinct ancestral components defined the Afroasiatic-speaking populations inhabiting North Africa and Northeast Africa; the Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in Northeast Africa and East Africa; the Ari populations in Northeast Africa; the Niger-Congo-speaking populations in West-Central Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa; the Pygmy populations in Central Africa; and the Khoisan populations in Southern Africa.

## Lists
### By linguistic phylum

As a first overview, the following table lists major groups by ethno-linguistic affiliation, with rough population estimates (as of 2016):
| Phylum | Region | Major groups | Pop. (millions) (2016) | Number of groups |
| Afro-Asiatic | North Africa, Horn of Africa, Sahel | Amhara, Hausa, Oromo, Somali, Tigrayan | 200 | 200-300 |
| Niger-Congo | West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa | Akan, Fula, Igbo, Kongo, Mandé, Mooré, Shona, Yoruba, Zulu | 900 | 1650 |
| Nilo-Saharan | Nile Valley, Sahel, East Africa | Dinka, Kanuri, Luo, Maasai, Nuer, Songhai | 60 | 80 |
| Khoisan | Southern Africa, Tanzania | Nama, San, Sandawe | 1 | 40-70 |
| Austronesian | Madagascar | Malagasy | 20 | 1 |
| Indo-European | Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa | Afrikaners, British, French | 6 | 3 |
| Total | Africa | | 1.2 billion (UN 2016) | c. 2,000 |

### Major ethnic groups

The following is a table of major ethnic groups (10 million people or more):
| Major ethnic groups | Region | Countries | Language family | Pop. (millions) (year) |
| Akan | West Africa | Ghana, Ivory Coast | Niger–Congo, Kwa | 20 |
| Amhara | Horn of Africa | Ethiopia | Afro-Asiatic, Semitic | 22 (2007) |
| Arabs | North Africa | Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania | Afro-Asiatic, Semitic | 100+ (2013) |
| Berbers | North Africa | Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania | Afro-Asiatic, Berber | 36 (2016) |
| Chewa | Central Africa | Malawi, Zambia | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 12 (2007) |
| Fulani | West Africa | Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone | Niger–Congo, Senegambian | 20 |
| Hausa | West Africa | Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan | Afro-Asiatic, Chadic | 78 (2019) |
| Hutu | Central Africa | Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 15 |
| Igbo | West Africa | Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon | Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger | 34 (2017) |
| Kanuri | West Africa | Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon | Nilo-Saharan, Saharan | 10 |
| Kongo | Central Africa | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Republic of the Congo | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 10 |
| Luba | Central Africa | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 15 |
| Mongo | Central Africa | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 15 |
| Mossi | West Africa | Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger, Ghana, Mali, Togo | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 11 |
| Nilotes | Nile Valley, East Africa, Central Africa | South Sudan, Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia | Nilo-Saharan, Nilotic | 22 (2007) |
| Oromo | Horn of Africa | Ethiopia, Kenya | Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic | 42 (2022) |
| Shona | East Africa | Zimbabwe and Mozambique | Niger–Congo, Bantoid | 15 (2000) |
| Somali | Horn of Africa | Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya | Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic | 20 (2009) |
| Songhai | West Africa | Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Algeria | Nilo-Saharan | 8 (2019) |
| Yoruba | West Africa | Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone | Niger–Congo, Volta–Niger | 40 |
| Zulu | Southern Africa | South Africa | Niger–Congo, Bantu | 12 (2016) |