Yoruba Peoples Discussion

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The Yoruba people are an African ethnic group that inhabits western Africa. They developed out of earlier Mesolithic Volta-Niger populations by the first millennium BC. The Yoruba were the dominant cultural force in southern Nigeria as far back as the 11th century. Centuries before the arrival of colonials, the Yoruba already lived in well structured urban centres organized around powerful city-states. In ancient times, many of these cities were fortresses with high walls and gates and ranked among the most populous in Africa. Archaeological findings indicate the capital of the Yoruba empire had a population of over 100,000 people. Today Lagos, another major Yoruba city, has a population of over twenty million. The dynasty of kings at Ife-Ife, which is regarded by the Yoruba as the origin of human civilization, remains intact to this day. Ife continues to be seen as the spiritual homeland of the Yoruba.