The shortest tribe are the Mbutsi people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with an average height of 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) for men and 1.35 m (4 ft 5 in) for women, with some groups averaging only 1.32 m (4 ft 4 in) for men and 1.24 m (4 ft 1 in) for women.
According to medical research, the children of these tribes are not significantly shorter than the children of other tribes but they do not grow as much in adolescence because they produce a limited amount of the growth hormone insulin-like growth factor (IGF).
