Nilotic peoples are a geo-political people group indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages, which constitute a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages spoken in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania. In a more general sense, the Nilotic peoples include all descendants of the original Nilo-Saharan speakers. Among these are the Luo, Sara, Maasai, Kalenjin, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Ateker, and the Maa-speaking peoples, each of which is a cluster of several ethnic groups.

Nilotic groups have experienced significant and sustained contact with outside influences over the past century. These outside influences include colonialism and the drawing of international boundaries across their traditional areas (e.g., the Maasai straddle the Tanzania-Kenya border; Luo are found in Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan), mission activities, western-oriented educational systems, establishment of international cities such as Nairobi in their traditional areas, tourists, national government policies, etc.

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