The Kpelle are the largest ethnic group in Liberia, making up 20.3% of the population. 870,000 live in Liberia, 670,000 in Guinea, and 30,000 in Cote d'Ivoire, and the Kpelle speak the Kpelle language; they adhere to the animist Kpelle religion, Christianity, or Islam. The Kpelle belong to the Mande culture, and they are the most rural and conservative of the Liberian peoples, being led by paramount chiefs and surviving off their staple food of rice.