Urhobo people

Infobox ethnic group | group = Urhobo peoplesmall|Ihwo r' Urhobo | image = | pop = 1.2 million | total_ref = | langs = | religions = | related-c = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | related_groups = Isoko, Bini, Esan, Afemai, Ijaw, Itsekiri | total_source = estimate | rawimage = | flag_caption = The Urhobos are people located in southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger Delta. The Urhobos are the major ethnic group in Delta State and the people speak the Urhobo language. The word Urhobo refers to a group of people rather than a territory. The ethnic population is approximately 1.2 million. The Urhobo people live in a territory bounded by latitudes 6° and 5°, 15° North and Longitudes 5°, 40° and 6°, 25° East in the Delta and Bayelsa States of Nigeria. Their neighbors are the Isoko to the southeast, the Itsekiri and Ijaw to the west, the Bini and Bini to the north, the Ijaw to the south and the Ukwuani people to the northeast. The Ughelli and Agbon Kingdoms are the oldest kingdoms in Urhoboland. The Ughelli and Agbon Kingdoms can be traced to about the 14th century. Ughelli oral tradition has it that the great ancestor and founding father of Ughelli (Ughene) is the second son of Oghwoghwa, a prince from Benin Kingdom. The Okpe Kingdom is also one of the twenty four kingdoms in Urhobo land. The Kingdom has been in existence since before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century. The Okpe Kingdom was established formally in the 17th century. The Okpe people are known to have migrated to found the present day Sapele and the Orodje of Okpe still exercises authority over the land of Sapele. Urhobo territory consists of evergreen forests with many oil palm trees. The territory is covered by a network of streams, whose volume and flow are directly affected by the seasons. The wet season is traditionally from April to October, while the dry season ranges from November to March. The Urhobos are organized into two different political kingdoms, gerontocracies and plutocracies.

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Related concepts (21)

Isoko language

Isoko is an Edoid language, one of the languages in Delta State spoken by the Isoko people in Isoko South, North and part of Ndokwa East Local Government Areas of Delta State, Southern part of Nigeria in Niger Delta region. It is also spoken in some part of Bayelsa.

Delta State

Delta State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State on August 27, 1991. Bordered on the north by Edo State, the east by Anambra and Rivers States, and the south by Bayelsa State across the Niger River for 17 km and the Forçados River for 198 km, while to the west is the Bight of Benin which covers about 160 kilometres of the state's coastline.

Igbe religion

Igbe religion, popularly known as Igbe (an Urhobo word meaning dance) was founded by Ubiecha Etarakpo in 1858 and has its headquarters at 11, Egbo Street, Kokori Inland, Ethiope East Local Government Area, Delta State, Nigeria. The holy (sacred) day is known as Edigbe, meaning the day of joy. It is a religion based on dance, as its medium of worship to God. It began as a Urhobo-Kokori traditional sect, and in the 20th century was influenced by an influx of Christian evangelism.