Kenya - Population Distribution

Kenya has 42 African tribes as per the Census listing. The word "other" with various groups indicates that they are non-citizens of Kenya.

Ethnic group distribution

Total population: about 30 million

Group	Population	% of Total
Kikuyu	4,455,865	20.78
Luhya	3,083,273	14.38
Luo	2,653,932	12.38
Kalenjin	2,458,123	11.46
Kamba	2,448,302	11.42
Kisii	1,318,409	6.15
Meru	1,087,778	5.07
Mijikenda	1,007,371	4.70
Maasai	377,089	1.76
Turkana	283,750	1.32
Embu	256,623	1.20
Taita	203,389	0.95
Teso	178,455	0.83
Ogaden	139,597	0.65
Kuria	112,236	0.52
Basuba	107,819	0.50
Samburu	106,897	0.50
Mbere	101,007	0.47
Degodia	100,400	0.47
Tharaka	92,528	0.46
Boran	60,160	0.37
Gurreh	80,004	0.37
Pokomo	58,645	0.27
Bajun	55,187	0.26
Kenyan Asian	52,968	0.25
Orma	45,562	0.21
Somali	45,098	0.21
Gabra	35,726	0.17
Kenyan Arab	33,714	0.16
Indians	29,091	0.14
Other Kenyans	28,722	0.13
Ugandans	27,267	0.13
Hawiyah	27,244	0.13
Ajuran	26,916	0.13
Redile	26,536	0.12
Dorobo	24,363	0.11
Tanzanian	19,325	0.09
Not Recorded	16,716	0.08
Njemps	15,872	0.07
Other Europeans	15,768	0.07
British	15,608	0.07
Other African	14,471	0.07
Taveta	14,358	0.07
Swahili	13,920	0.06
Boni-Sanye	10,891	0.05
Sakuye	10,678	0.05
Other Arabs	7,881	0.04
Others	6,308	0.03
Bulji	5,975	0.03
Other Asians	5,264	0.02
El Molo	3,600	0.02
Kenyan Europeans	3,184	0.01
Tribe Unknown	2,411	0.01
Gosha	2,081	0.01
Pakistanis	1,862	0.01
Dasnachi-Shangil	418	0.00

Source: 1989 Census, as reported in the Kenya Factbook, 15th Edition, 1997-1998. Kul Bhushan, Newspread International

Note: The information provided here is not intended to support any particular political stance. Various people have gotten all bent out of shape because their particular ethnic group was misrepresented, or skipped entirely. This information is the best that I have at the moment. If you have better information, please contact me for my mailing address, and I would be glad to update this page with whatever you send me, which appears to be reasonably well researched.