Kabyle

Kabyle, name given to the language and a group of people who are Berbers of coastal Algeria, Tunisia, and some oases in the Sahara. The Kabyle language is from the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family and has over 3 million speakers. Arabic is spoken as a second language by the Kabyle and some French is used for trading purposes.

The Kabyles are monogamous and patriarchal. Although they generally follow an agricultural economy, during the French occupation of Algeria they were introduced to such occupations as trading, field labour, industrial work, and military service. The family group lives in a compound composed of rectangular houses. Their pottery, which is made by the women without the use of a potter's wheel, is decorated in geometric patterns; it has been closely studied by archaeologists because of its resemblance to the pottery of ancient Greece. The Kabyles are Muslims of the Sunni sect (although traditionally most were Christians before the Arab invasion in the 7th century ad).

Selected statistical data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, SIL International.