Kalenjin people

The Kalenjin are a Southern Nilotic ethnic group native to East Africa, encompassing over 20 Kalenjin-speaking tribes and sub-groups sharing a common cultural and linguistic lineage. The primary tribes in Kenya, ordered by population, include the Kipsigis, Nandi, Pokot, Keiyo, Sabaot (including the Sebei of Uganda), Tugen, Marakwet, Arror, Lembus, Ogiek, and others. They represent Kenya's third-largest ethnic group, with a population of 6,358,113 per the 2019 census. The collective also includes the Endorois, Sengwer, Terik, Samor, Endo, and Senger, alongside Datooga clusters of Tanzania.

The Kalenjin-speaking peoples are descendants of the Maliri of Uganda, a lineage they share with the Daasanach (Marille) of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia. They were influenced culturally and genetically by Omotic-speaking populations, as well as the Iraqw and Maasai. Their linguistic seedbed is attributed to the autochthonous Ogiek (Dorobo) and Agumba/Umpua/Lumbwa inhabitants of the Mau Forest and Mount Kenya regions, who represent the aboriginal ties to the area prior to the 17 century.