Hutus
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (11.5 million) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| Languages | |
| Rwanda-Rundi, English, French | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Tutsi Twa |
| Hutu militants |
|---|
| Rwandan Genocide (1994) |
| Impuzamugambi |
| Interahamwe |
| Rwandan Armed Forces |
| Refugee crisis |
| RDR (1995–1996) |
| 1st and 2nd Congo War |
| ALiR (1996–2001) |
| FDLR (2000–present) |
The Hutu /ˈhuːtuː/, also known as the Abahutu, are a population inhabiting the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the principal population divisions alongside the Tutsi and the Twa.
The Hutu is the largest of the four main population divisions in Burundi and Rwanda. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians are Hutu, with Tutsis the next largest ethnic group at 15% and 14% of residents in Rwanda and Burundi, respectively.
The Twa pygmies, the smallest of the two countries' principal populations, also share language and culture with the Hutu and Tutsi. However, they are distinguished by a considerably shorter stature.
The Hutu are believed to have first emigrated to the Great Lake region from West Africa in the great Bantu expansion. Various theories have emerged to explain the purported physical differences between them and their fellow Bantu-speaking neighbors, the Tutsi. One such thesis, largely based on oral tradition, posits that the Tutsi experienced some admixture with or were partially descended from migrants of Caucasoid stock, who usually were said to have arrived in the Great Lakes region from the Horn of Africa and/or North Africa. These pastoralists were then reckoned to have established aristocracies over the sedentary Hutu and Twa. Through intermarriage with the local Bantus, the herders were gradually assimilated culturally, linguistically and racially.
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