This paper first attempts to define the concept of tribe and ethnic entity in order to demonstrate the radical difference between “local community” and “society” –two terminologies frequently mentioned in the press or by the actors themselves. The author gives examples of tribes, to show their diversity and to place this diversity in the context of a long-term historical perspective. He then examines the relation between tribes and the different forms of the state. The author ends the paper with yet another complicated subject which is the relation between the tribe and the city.