Ekiti people

Ekiti people
Territorial map of the Ekiti speaking Yoruba people in Ekiti, Ondo and Kwara State.
Territorial expanse of The Ekiti Yorubas.[1]
Total population
~ 4,175,608 (2011-'16)
Regions with significant populations
Ekiti State - 3,270,798 (2016)[2]

Ondo State - 775,420
 • Akure North: 151,930
 • Akure South: 418,570
 • Ifedore: 204,920

Kwara State - 129,390
 • Ekiti: 63,200
 • Oke Ero: 66,190
Religion
Primarily: Christianity
Also: Islam • Yoruba religion
Related ethnic groups
Ìjẹ̀shà, Ifẹ̀, Ìgbómìnà, Àkókó, Yàgbà, Ondó,
Other Yoruba people
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The Ekiti people are one of the largest historical subgroups of the larger Yoruba people of West Africa, located in Nigeria.[3] They are classified as a Central Yoruba group, alongside the Ijesha, Igbomina, Yagba and Ifes. Ekiti State is populated exclusively by Ekiti people; however, it is but a segment of the historic territorial domain of Ekiti-speaking groups, which historically included towns in Ondo State such as Akure (the current capital and largest city of Ondo State), Ilara-Mokin, Ijare, and Igbara-oke. Ogbagi, Irun, Ese, Oyin, Igasi, Afin and Eriti in the Akoko region,[4] as well as some towns in Kwara State, are also culturally Ekiti, although belong in other states today.[5]

The name Ekiti is a derivation of an earlier term, Okiti, which means "Hilly" in Yoruba, as characterized by the generally hilly terrain of the areas which the Ekiti inhabit.[6]

  1. ^ "Yoruba subgroups". Cambridge.org. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  2. ^ "National Bureau of Statistics | REPORT DETAILS". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  3. ^ "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  4. ^ "Akoko Resistance to External Invasion and Domination in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" (PDF). rsisinternational.org. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  5. ^ "The formation of Yoruba Nation and the challenge of leadership since Pre-Colonial Era, Pg 14". research gate.net. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1921). The History of the Yorubas. Cambridshire, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511702617.