Definition: The Hutu are a mostly Roman Catholic and Protestant, French-and-Bantu-dialect-speaking people numbering more than 11 million and populating Rwanda, Burundi, and portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Hutu arrived in the region before the Tutsis in the 11th century from Chad. While Hutu share much in common with the Tutsis, they are each distinct from the third major ethnic group in the region and the longest inhabitants of the area, the Twa pygmies.