Yoruba peopleThe Yoruba people (Ìran Yorùbá, Ọmọ Odùduwà, Ọmọ Káàárọ̀-oòjíire) are a West African ethnic group who mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by the Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute more than 52 million people in Africa, are over a million outside the continent, and bear further representation among members of the African diaspora.
OgbomoshoOgbomosho (also Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́) is a city in Oyo State, south-western Nigeria. It was founded in the mid 17th century. The population was approximately 454,690 in the 2006 census. It is the second largest city in Oyo State and also among the most populated in Nigeria. Although the principal inhabitants of the city are the Yoruba people, there are people from other parts of Nigeria and other West African countries who are resident in the city.
OsogboOsogbo (also known as Oṣogbo, and seldomly as Oshogbo) is a town in Nigeria. It became the capital city of Osun State in 1991. Osogbo city seats the Headquarters of both Osogbo Local Government Area (situated at Oke-Baale Area of the city) and Olorunda Local Government Area (situated at Igbonna Area of the city). It is some 88 kilometers by road northeast of Ibadan. It is also by road south of Ilorin (capital and largest city of Kwara State) and northwest of Akure.
IfẹIfẹ̀ (Ifẹ̀, also Ilé-Ifẹ̀) is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria, recent in-depth archeologically estimates suggest Ife's founding to be between the 10th century BC and 6th century BC and is widely agreed upon by historians to be the oldest amongst the classical and post-classical Yoruba city-states. The city is located in present-day Osun State. Ife is about 218 kilometers northeast of Lagos with a population of over 500,000 people, which is the highest in Osun State according to population census of 2006.
AkureAkure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the capital and largest city of Ondo State. The city had a population of 403,000 as of the 2006 population census. It currently hosts a population of 774,000. Akure Kingdom Rock engravings prior to the Mesolithic period, have been discovered on the outskirts of Akure. Also the oldest Homo sapiens fossil ever found in West Africa thus far was discovered there, dating back to around 11,000 years ago. The Akure Kingdom is regarded as one of the sixteen ancient Ekiti kingdoms.
Oyo EmpireThe Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire in West Africa. It was located in present-day eastern Benin and western Nigeria (including the South West zone and the western half of the North Central zone). The empire grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking state and rose through the outstanding organizational and administrative skills of the Yoruba people, wealth gained from trade, and its powerful cavalry.
Ondo StateOndo State (Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3rd of February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to the southeast, Ogun State to the southwest, Osun State to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state's capital is Akure, the former capital of the ancient Akure Kingdom. The State includes mangrove-swamp forest near the Bights of Benin.
IfáIfá is a divination system and Yoruba religion that represents the teachings of the Orisha Ọrunmila. Its oracular literary body is made up of 256 volumes (signs) that are divided into two categories, the first called Ojú Odù or main Odù that consists of 16 chapters. The second category is composed of 240 chapters called Amúlù Odù (omoluos), these are composed through the combination of the main Odù. The system of divination used in Ifá is a code to access the scientific and metaphysical knowledge in the literary corpus, the Odu Ifá.
Yoruba religionThe Yoruba religion (Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), or Isese, comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Lagos States, as well as parts of Kogi state and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland (Ilẹ̀ Káàárọ̀-Oòjíire). It shares some parallels with the Vodun practiced by the neighboring Fon and Ewe peoples to the west and to the religion of the Edo people and Igala people to the east.
Gbe languagesThe Gbe languages (pronounced ɡ͡bè) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widely spoken Gbe language is Ewe (10.3 million speakers in Ghana and Togo), followed by Fon (5 million, mainly in Benin). The Gbe languages were traditionally placed in the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo languages, but more recently have been classified as Volta–Niger languages.
