Introduction
The population of Africa is incredibly diverse, made up of innumerable tribes and people of many social and ethnic groups. Some of these groups are made up of just a few thousand people while others consist of millions of people. Each group usually has its own language and culture. Many African countries have numerous tribes within their borders. For example there are more than thirty tribes within Uganda. To give you a better idea of the diversity of the people of Africa below is a list of interesting facts about the people of Africa. This information is written for both kids and adults.Click here for a great selection of Amazon.com books about the people of Africa.
List of Major African Tribes
Below is a list of some of the major tribes found in Africa along with their approximate population.- Arab - 100 million
- Berber - 65 million
- Hausa - 30 million
- Yoruba - 30 million
- Oromo - 30 million
- Igbo - 30 million
- Fula - 27 million
- Akan - 20 million
- Amhara - 20 million
- Somali - 15-17 million
- Hutu - 16 million
- Ijaw - 14 million
- Mandinka - 13 million
- Kongo - 10 million
- Shona - 10 million
- Zulu - 10 million
Interesting Facts About the People of Africa
- There are an estimated 3,000 tribes/groups in Africa.
- There are over 2100 languages spoken in Africa (some estimate over 3000 languages).
- Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism are the main religions practiced. However many of the people practice traditional African religions. Some practice these alongside Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism. Judaism is also present in many parts of Africa.
- The people of Africa have more physical variations than any other continent.
- The average life expectancy in Africa ranges from 74 years in Mauritius to approximately 32 years in Swaziland.
- The shortest people in the world, the pygmies, live in Africa. The average man is 1.45 m (4.34 feet) and the average women is 1.33 m (4 feet).
- Some Sudanese tribes are among the tallest people (on average) in the world. In some of the tribes the average height of a man is six feet and four inches, where as for women it is six feet.
- The Surma tribe in southwestern Ethiopia is famous due to their women wearing lip plates.
- The Wodaabe people do not name their children until they reach twelve years old.
- The population of Africa grew from 221 million in 1950 to 1 billion in 2009.
- Nigeria has the highest population of all African countries with 158 million people, Ethiopia is second with 82 million, and Egypt third with 80 million.
- Africa's population growth is 2.3 percent a year.
- Africa's population is estimated to double from approximately one billion people in 2011 to two billion people by 2045.
- Niger and Liberia's population is expected to double from 2011 to 2031.