The Gayo tribe is a tribe that inhabits the Gayo highlands in the central Aceh Province. The traditional area of the Gayo tribe includes the districts of Bener Meriah, Aceh Tengah and Gayo Lues. In addition, the Gayo tribe also inhabits parts of Southeast Aceh, Aceh Tamiang, and East Aceh.
Gayo language is a language used as everyday language by the Gayo people. This Gayo language has a connection with the language of the Karo people in North Sumatra. This language belongs to a language group called the "Northwest Sumatra-Barrier Islands" of the Austronesian language family.
Gayo people live in small communities called kampongs. Every village is headed by a gossip. A collection of several villages called kemukiman, led by mukim.
The smallest kinship group is called sara ine (nuclear family). The unity of several nuclear families is called the sara kitchen. In the past some kitchen sara lived together in a long house, so it was called sara umah. Some longhouse pieces merge into one side (clan). At present many nuclear families inhabit their own homes. In the past, the Gayo people mainly developed farming livelihoods in the fields and livestock, with complex livelihood customs.