If you live in the United States, you're probably used to the idea of ethnic diversity — which is considered to be one the defining features of the country — but how does the U.S. stack up against other countries in the world in terms of diversity?
You may be surprised to learn that it doesn't appear in our list of most diverse countries. Read on to learn about the most diverse country in the world, and who else is in the top 10.
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The following list uses data from academic research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which devised a term called "fractionalization" to measure ethnic diversity (more on that after the list).
Uganda tops the list of the most diverse country in the world. With a population of over 49 million, Uganda, located in Central Africa, is home to a strikingly diverse population, with a wide array of different ethnic groups and languages spoken.
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Liberia, located on the West African coast, is the second-most ethnically diverse country in the world. With a population of around 5.5 million, it is home to at least 20 different ethnic groups, and over 20 different languages spoken.
An island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa, Madagascar has long been noted for its ecological richness. It's also one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, home to nearly 32 million people who belong to a rich tapestry of different ethnicities.
Located in Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo — often simply called DR Congo — is a large, populous country of 109 million. Highly diverse, it has (like many African countries) suffered from colonialism, economic exploitation and political instability.
Sitting across the border from the similarly named DR Congo is the Republic of the Congo, which is just as diverse but significantly smaller in population, at just over 6 million.
Also in Central Africa, the Republic of Cameroon is another hot spot for cultural diversity. With a population of nearly 31 million people, it is home to around 250 indigenous African tribes, with nearly as many different languages spoken (over 200 have been documented).
With nearly 20 million people, Chad is a large and incredibly diverse country. Straddling the regions of North and Central Africa, it is home to over 100 different ethnic populations.
Like many other entries on this list, it is also one of the most religiously diverse countries, with Islam and Christianity being practiced alongside a wide array of local, Indigenous spiritual traditions.
Kenya is a populous country in East Africa. Some of it borders the Indian Ocean, and it is known for a great deal of ecological, geographic and ethnic diversity. The country's population as of 2024 is estimated at over 52 million.
As in other countries on this list, diversity is increased by the number of foreign residents living in the country.
Nigeria, with a population of over 230 million, is the most populous country in Africa. It is also one of the most diverse, with 500 different languages spoken by people from over 250 ethnic groups. Nigeria is located in West Africa.
With a population of over 5 million people, the Central African Republic is one of the relatively smaller countries on this list. It remains very diverse, with over 80 different ethnic groups and many languages spoken — including Sango, a creole consisting of different Indigenous languages.
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As mentioned above, the diversity rankings in this list reflect a measurement known as "fractionalization" (also sometimes referred to as "ethnic fractionalization.")
In simple terms, this is a statistical measure to calculate the probability that two randomly selected people will be from different groups. That could refer to religion, ethnicity or spoken language; the idea is that these are all valid measures of diversity.
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To get the raw data, the researchers looked at how many of those different categories could be listed in a country, and then did some numbers crunching, arriving at a score between 0 and 1, with 1 being highest possible diversity number and 0 being the lowest.
Part of the NEBR's effort to create this methodology has to do with the problems that arise from the concept of race. Although it's a common idea, the idea of different races has been defined variously over the years, and so it's of little use to modern science.
Ethnic diversity is deemed by most ethnographers as being a superior measurement, since it encompasses features that are more readily identifiable, such as cultural customs, family lineage, religion and language.
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That helps explain why Africa is so well-represented on this list (as you probably noticed, these are all African countries).
While other definitions of race would hold that the continent of Africa was fairly low in diversity, if you actually look at the different ethnic groups in many of these nations, they are incredibly varied populations, with rich cultural diversity.
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To help illustrate the idea of fractionalization, take the example of Brazil. Old-fashioned ideas of racial diversity would hold Brazil as fairly diverse: It has Indigenous groups, the descendants of enslaved African, and many people of European descent.
Colonized by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, Portuguese has been spoken increasingly over the centuries, until the point where it is commonplace, with over 98 percent of residents speaking the language fluently.
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This means that Brazil's overall diversity, by the measures we're using here, is relatively low (it actually scores as one of the least diverse countries), due to a widely shared language, as well as cultural customs.
So, is Africa full of "racially diverse countries?" If we're using antiquated ideas of race, no, but if we're using updated measures, it is by far the most diverse continent in the world.
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