Ethnic tribes of Kenya
Kenya has over 42 tribes but majority of them have several sub-tribes. Surprisingly 5 tribes make up to 70 % of the entire Kenyan population.The Kikuyu Community is the biggest tribe with 22 % of the entire population, followed by Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin,Kamba and Kisii respectively.Below is a list of all tribes in Kenya.
1.Dahalo Tribe2.Digo Tribe3.Duruma Tribe4.Edo Tribe5.El Molo Tribe6.Embu Tribe7.Garreh-Ajuran Tribe8.Giryama Tribe9.Kalenjin Tribe10.Kamba Tribe11.Kikuyu Tribe12.Kisii Tribe13.Kuria Tribe14.Luhya Tribe15.Luo Tribe16.Masai Tribe17.Meru Tribe18.Mijikenda Tribe19.Ogiek Tribe20.Rendille Tribe21.Samburu Tribe22.Somali Tribe23.Swahili Tribe24.Taita Tribe25.Teso Tribe26.Tharaka Tribe27.Turkana Tribe28.Yaaku Tribe
Kenyais amulti-ethnic statein theGreat Lakesregion ofEast Africa. It is primarilyinhabited byBantuandNiloticpopulations, with someCushiticethnic minorities in the north. Its total population is estimated at 45 million as of 2014.A national census was conducted in 1999, but results were never released. A new census was undertaken in 2009, but turned out to be controversial, as the questions about ethnic affiliation seemed inappropriate after theethnic violenceof the previous year.[1]Preliminary results of the census were published in 2010.[2]Kenya's population was reported as 38.6 million in 2009, compared to in 28.7 million in 1999, 21.4 million in 1989 and 15.3 million 1979,[3]an increase by a factor of 2.5 over 30 years, or an average growth of more than 3% per year. The population growth rate has been reported as reduced during the 2000s and is now estimated at 2.7% (as of 2010), resulting in an estimate of 41 million in 2011.Ethnic groupsFurther information:Languages of KenyaAMaasaiman.Kenya has a very diverse population that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguisticgroups found inAfrica. The majority of the country's population belongs to variousBantusub-groups, with a significant number ofNilotes.Cushiticpeoples form an ethnic minority of about 7%, mostly represented byOromoandSomalispeakers.SwahiliandEnglishare official languages. Swahili is compulsory in primary education, and, along with English, serves as the mainlingua francabetween the various ethnic groups.SIL Ethnologuelists a total of 68 individual languages spoken in Kenya.[4]Kenya's diversity is such that its largest ethnic group, theKikuyu, make up less than a fifth of the population. Ever since Kenyan independence in 1963, Kenyan politics have been characterized byethnic tensionsand rivalry between the larger groups, devolving intoethnic violencein the2007–2008 Kenyan crisis.CIA World Factbookgives the ethnic composition as follows[5]*.Kikuyu22%,*.Luhya14%,*.Luo13%,*.Kalenjin12%,*.Kamba11%,*.Meru6%,*.Other African 15%,*.Non-African 1% (Asian,European, andArab)Bantu peoplesBantusare the single largest population division in Kenya. The termBantudenoteswidely dispersed but related peoples that speak south-centralNiger–Congo languages. Originally fromWest-Central Africa, Bantus began a millennium-long series of migrations referred to as theBantu expansionthat first brought them toSoutheast Africaabout 2000 years ago.Most Bantu arefarmers. Some of the prominent Bantu groups in Kenya include theKikuyu, theKamba, theLuhya, theMeru, theMijikendaand theKisii. TheSwahili peopleare descended from Mijikenda Bantu peoples that intermarried withArabandPersianimmigrants.[6][7]Nilotic peoplesNilotesare the second-largest group of peoples in Kenya. They speakNilo-Saharanlanguagesand came to Southeast Africa by way ofSouth Sudan.[6]Most Nilotes in Kenya areherdsmen, and they have a fearsome reputation as warriors and cattle-rustlers. The most prominent of these groups include theLuo,Maasai, theSamburu, theTurkana, and theKalenjin.[6]As with the Bantu, the Nilotes have adopted many customs and practices from the Cushitic groups, including theage setsystem of social organization,circumcision, and vocabulary terms.[8][9]Cushitic peoplesCushitic peoplesform a small minority of Kenya's population. They speakAfro-Asiatic languages, and originally came fromEthiopiaandSomaliain Northeast Africa. Most areherdsmenandMuslim.[9]Cushites are concentrated in the northernmostNorth Eastern Province, which borders Somalia.[10]The Cushitic-speaking peoples are divided into two groups: the Southern Cushites and Eastern Cushites.*.The Southern Cushites were the second earliest inhabitants of Kenya after the indigenous hunter-gatherer groups,[11]and the first of the Cushitic-speaking peoples to migrate from their homeland in theHorn of Africaabout 2000 years ago.[9]Responsible for having introducedirrigationandcompostingtechniques to Southeast Africa,[12]they were progressively displaced in a southerly directionand/or absorbed by the incoming Nilotic and Bantu groups until they wound up inTanzania.[9]As a consequence of these movements, there are no longer any Southern Cushites left in Kenya (theDahalooriginally being pre-Cushitic peoples who adopted the language of their dominant Southern Cushitic neighbors sometime toward the last millennium BCE[12]).*.The Eastern Cushites include theOromoand theSomali. Of these, the Somali arethe most recent arrivals to Kenya, having first come from Somalia only a few centuries ago.[9]After the Northern Frontier District (North Eastern Province) washanded over to Kenyan nationalists at the end of British colonial rule in Kenya, Somalis in the region fought theShifta Waragainst Kenyan troops to join their kin in the Somali Republic to the north. Although the war ended into a cease-fire,Somalisin the region still identify and maintain close ties with their kin in Somalia, and see themselves as one people.[13]An entrepreneurial community, they established themselves in the business sector, particularly inEastleigh.[14]Arabs*.Arabsform a small but historically important minority ethnic group in Kenya. They are principally concentrated along the coast in cities such asMombasa. A Muslim community, they primarily came fromOmanandHadhramautinYemen, and are engaged in trade. Arabs are locally referred to asWashihirior, less commonly, as simplyShihiriin the BantuSwahili language, Kenya'slingua franca.[10]According to the 2009 Census, Kenyan Arabs number 40,760 people.[15]Indians*.Indiansare primarily descendants of migrants who arrived in Kenya between 1896 and 1901, when some 32,000 indentured labourers were recruited fromBritish Indiato build theKenya-Uganda Railway.[16]SinceKenyan independence, they have been principally concentrated in the business sector. Many Kenyan Indians hail from theGujaratregion. While there have been some race-related tensions with the local Bantu and Nilotic majority, Indians now form one of the more prosperous communities in the region.[10]According to the 2009 Census, Kenyan Asians number 46,782 people, while Asians without Kenyan citizenship number 35,009 individuals.[15]Europeans*.Europeansin Kenya primarily consist of descendants of British colonials. Many are ofaristocraticdescent and still continue to wield significant influence, especially over Kenya's political elite. Since theIndependence of Kenya, Britons and other Europeans in Kenya also continue to dominate the local business community.[10]According to the 2009 Census, Kenyan Europeans number 5,166 people, while Europeans without Kenyan citizenship number 27,172 individuals.[15]LanguagesMain article:Languages of KenyaLord's PrayerinSwahili, aBantu languagethat alongsideEnglishserves as a lingua franca for many in Kenya.Kenya's various ethnic groups typically speak theirmother tongueswithin their own communities. The twoofficial languages,EnglishandSwahili, are used in varying degrees of fluency for communication with other populations. English is widely spoken in commerce, schooling and government.[17]Peri-urban and rural dwellers are less multilingual, with many in rural areas speaking only their native languages.[18]According toEthnologue, there are a total of 69 languages spoken in Kenya. Most belong to two broad language families:Niger-Congo(Bantu branch) andNilo-Saharan(Nilotic branch), which are spoken by the country's Bantu and Nilotic populations, respectively. The Cushitic and Arab ethnic minorities speak languagesbelonging to the separateAfro-Asiaticfamily, with the Indian and European residents speaking languages from theIndo-Europeanfamily.[19]
