Pygmy is a word that describes several ethnic groups with unusually short people. According to anthropologists, pygmies can be any group where adult men are less than 150 centimetres (4.9 ft) tall on average. The best known pygmies are the Aka, Efé and Mbuti of central Africa. There are also pygmies in Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil. The Negritos of Southeast Asia are also called pygmies.
The word "pygmy" is sometimes thought to be pejorative (an insult). It is, however, the only word that is used to call all African Midgets. The word Bayaka is sometimes used in the Central African Republic to refer to all local Pygmies. In the Congo Basin, pygmies are called the Kongo word Bambenga.