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The Yoruba are most likely the most well-known West African ethnic group in the world due to their vast population in West Africa and broad dispersion through enslavement in the Americas.[1]
The Republic of Benin and Nigeria contain the highest concentrations of Yoruba people and Yoruba faiths in all of Africa. Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago are the countries in the Americas where Yoruba cultural influences are the most noticeable, particularly in popular religions like Vodon, Santéria, Camdomblé, and Macumba. (In 1989, it was believed that more than 70 million individuals in Africa and the New World participated in Yoruba religion in one way or another.)[2] The most prevalent West African religions, both in Africa and the Americas, are likely those of the Yoruba people or those that were influenced by them. These West African faiths may also have the most intricate theologies. For instance, the Yoruba are thought to have a pantheon of up to 6,000 deities.[3]
The following is a list of Yoruba orisha (òrìṣà), or deities.
- ^ "Deities of the Yoruba and Fon Religions | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
- ^ Mark, Joshua J. "Orisha". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
- ^ "Deities of the Yoruba and Fon Religions | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-12-11.