Meet the shortest tribe in the world - an adult looks like a ten year old child.

By Gerald Kipsang 

The tribe with the lowest height is the Bambuti, often called the Mbuti. 

Four groups of Ituri Pygmies, together referred to as the Bambuti, live in the Ituri Forest in the Eastern Congo (Kinshasa). Their average height is less than 4 feet 6 inches (137 cm).

A Bambuti woman in Ituri forest of Eastern Congo.

The average Pygmie is under five feet tall. They are only 35 percent shorter than average people. Research has shown that this small stature is hereditary and not the result of starvation.

A family of the pigmy tribe 

Researchers have spent years attempting to determine why the Pygmies are Africa's shortest tribe.

A missionary posing for a photo with the Bambuti pigmy women and children in Congo 

The small stature of pygmies has been explained by a number of ideas. According to conventional wisdom, pygmies' size results from travelling through impenetrable forests and eating few calories.

Nonetheless, some research indicates that the pygmies' height may be connected to their adaptation to the low UV radiation levels seen in rainforests.

This suggests that their skin produces little vitamin D, which restricts their ability to absorb calcium from food for bone formation.

A Bambuti man

The Bambuti refer to themselves as "bamiki bandura," or the children of the forest, because the forest gives them everything they need to survive. For them, the forest is a fatherly deity deserving of affection and adoration.

They live in homes made from wrapped phrynium leaves. They don't have a council of chiefs or elders. They use common dialogues to resolve their issues.

A family of Bambuti tribe outside their huts made of leaves.

The Bambuti have also suffered greatly, experiencing cannibalism and enslavement at the hands of their Bantu neighbours over the years. Over 20,000 Pygmies died during the Congo war and the genocide in Rwanda.