Luhya people

The Luhya (also known as Luyia or Abaluhya) are a Bantu speaking ethnic group comprising more than 20 related tribes. Geographically centered in the fertile Lake Victoria Basin of Western Kenya, they also maintain significant populations in eastern Uganda and northern Tanzania. They are Kenya’s second-largest ethnic group, numbering 6,823,482 per the 2019 census (approximately 14% of the national population). Often described as an "ethnolinguistic constellation," the groups include the Bukusu, Maragoli, Kabarasi, Tachoni, Wanga, and Samia, among others. Each sub-tribe maintains a distinct dialect and clan system while sharing a unified identity and common cultural institutions. The Bukusu remain the most populous tribe at 1,188,963 individuals, followed by the Maragoli (641,714) and the Idakho/Isukha groups of Kakamega (584,207). A significant trend in modern Luhya identity is the emergence of a broad, unified affiliation; notably, 1,105,308 individuals ethnically identified simply as "Luhya (So Stated)" without specifying a particular sub-tribe reflected in the 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report. Other major groups include the Bunyore (312,854), Marama (247,025), and the Wanga (226,358), while smaller groups like the Tiriki, Kabras, and Tachoni further enrich this constellation.