Igbo people

"Ndigbo" redirects here. For the pan-Igbo organization, see Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Not to be confused with the Igbomina or the Egba people.

Igbo people
Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò
Complete map of Igboland
Igbo family in traditional attire
Total population
c. ≈ 37,985,000 (2024)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Nigeria35,088,096 (15.2% of total population)[2]
 United States117,000[3]
 Cameroon114,000[4]
 Ghana72,000[5]
 Equatorial Guinea69,000[5][6]
 Canada9,035 (2021)[7]
 United Kingdom8,000[5]
 Gambia7,700[5]
 Ireland6,000[8]
 Estonia152
Languages
Igbo, Igboid, Nigerian Pidgin, Nigerian English
Religion
Christianity, Omenala/Odinala[9]
Related ethnic groups
Ibibio, Efik, Annang, Bahumono, Ogoni, Idoma, Igala, Edo, Ijaw, Ogoja, Bamileke
PeopleṆ́dị́ Ìgbò
LanguageÁsụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò
CountryÀlà Ị̀gbò

The Igbo people (English: /ˈiːboʊ/ EE-boh,[10][11] US also /ˈɪɡboʊ/ IG-boh;[12][13] also spelled Ibo[14][15] and historically also Iboe, Ebo, Eboe,[16] Eboans,[17] Heebo;[18] natively Ṇ́dị́ Ìgbò) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.[19] Ethnic Igbo populations are found in Cameroon,[20] Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, as migrants[21][22] as well as outside Africa. There has been much speculation about the origins of the Igbo people,[23] which are largely unknown.[24][25][26] The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.[27]

The Igbo language[23] is part of the Niger-Congo language family. Its regional dialects are somewhat mutually intelligible amidst the larger "Igboid" cluster.[28] The Igbo homeland straddles the lower Niger River, east and south of the Edoid and Idomoid groups, and west of the Ibibioid (Cross River) cluster.

Before the period of British colonial rule in the 20th century, the Igbo were politically fragmented by the centralized chiefdoms of Nri, Aro Confederacy, Agbor and Onitsha.[29] Frederick Lugard introduced the Eze system of "warrant chiefs".[30] The Igbos became overwhelmingly Christian during the evangelism of the missionaries in the colonial era in the twentieth century.[31] In the wake of decolonisation, the Igbo developed a strong sense of ethnic identity, with Christianity being the major religion and Islamic minorities.[32]

After ethnic tensions following the independence of Nigeria in 1960, the Igbos seceded from Nigeria and attempted to establish a new independent country called Biafra, triggering the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).[33] Millions of Biafran civilians died from starvation after the Nigerian military formed a blockade around Biafra, an event that led to international media promoting humanitarian aid for Biafra. Biafra was eventually defeated by Nigeria and reintegrated into the country. The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra and the now Nigerian-government proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), two organizations formed after 1999, continue to struggle for an independent Igbo state.[34]

  1. ^ Sare, Watimagbo (2024). "Total population of the Igbo people". Joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  2. ^ Central Intelligence Agency (23 October 2023). "Nigeria country profile". The World Factbook.
  3. ^ "Languages spoken in American Households, 2022". United States Census Bureau.
  4. ^ "PeopleGroups.org - Igbo of Cameroon". peoplegroups.org.
  5. ^ a b c d https://namibia.un.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/formattted%20SDG%206%20Igbo%20READING%20LIST_Final.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ "Igbo people group in all countries | Joshua Project".
  7. ^ "Mother tongue by single and multiple mother tongue responses: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions". 17 August 2022.
  8. ^ Murtagh, Peter (24 September 2013). "Celebration of Ireland's Igbo community held in Dublin". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  9. ^ Ezekwugo, Charles M. (1991). "Omenana and Odinana in the Igbo World: A Philosophical Appraisal". Africana Marburgensia. 24 (2): 3–18.
  10. ^ Nwangwa, Shirley Ngozi (26 November 2018). "Why It Matters That Alex Trebek Mispronounced The Name Of My People On 'Jeopardy!'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Igbo". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Igbo". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Ibo". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  14. ^ Isichei, Elizabeth (1978). Igbo Worlds. Institute for the Study of Human Issues.
  15. ^ "Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ibo" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 223.
  16. ^ Lovejoy, Paul (2000). Identity in the Shadow of Slavery. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8264-4725-8. / Floyd, E. Randall (2002). In the Realm of Ghosts and Hauntings. Harbor House. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-891799-06-8. / Cassidy, Frederic Gomes; Robert Brock Le Page (2002). A Dictionary of Jamaican English (2nd ed.). University of the West Indies Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-976-640-127-6.
  17. ^ Equiano, Olaudah (1837). The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. I. Knapp. p. 27.
  18. ^ Obichere, Boniface I. (1982). Studies in Southern Nigerian History: A Festschrift for Joseph Christopher Okwudili Anene 1918–68. Routledge. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-7146-3106-6.
  19. ^ "About the Igbo people". Culture Trip. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  20. ^ Forrest, Tom (1994). The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise (illustrated ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-7486-0492-0.
  21. ^ Mwakikagile, Godfrey (2006). African Countries: An Introduction with Maps. Pan-African Books: Continental Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-620-34815-7.
  22. ^ "The Native Igbo Of Equatorial Guinea". www.igbodefender.com. 19 August 2018. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  23. ^ a b "Igbo | Culture, Lifestyle, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  24. ^ "The Igbo People - Origins & History". www.faculty.ucr.edu. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  25. ^ Slattery, Katharine. "The Igbo People – Origins & History". www.faculty.ucr.edu. School of English, Queen's University of Belfast. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  26. ^ Chigere, Nkem Hyginus (2000). Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Igboland: Igboland and The Igbo People of Nigeria. Transaction Publishers, USA. p. 17. ISBN 978-3-8258-4964-1. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  27. ^ Williams, Lizzie (2008). Nigeria: The Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-84162-239-2.
  28. ^ Fardon, Richard; Furniss, Graham (1994). African languages, development and the state. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-415-09476-4. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  29. ^ Miers, Suzanne; Roberts, Richard L. (1988). The End of slavery in Africa. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-299-11554-8.
  30. ^ Falola, Toyin (2003). Adebayo Oyebade (ed.). The foundations of Nigeria: essays in honor of Toyin Falola. Africa World Press. p. 476. ISBN 978-1-59221-120-3. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  31. ^ Ekechi, Felix K. (1971). "Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa: The Igbo Case, 1900-1915". The Journal of African History. 12 (1): 103–115. doi:10.1017/S0021853700000098. S2CID 162515367.
  32. ^ "Igbo". Britannica Online. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  33. ^ Forsythe, Frederick (2006). Shadows: Airlift and Airwar in Biafra and Nigeria 1967–1970. Hikoki Publications. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-902109-63-3.
  34. ^ Adekson, Adedayo Oluwakayode (2004). The "civil society" problematique: deconstructing civility and southern Nigeria's ethnic radicalization. Routledge. pp. 87, 96. ISBN 978-0-415-94785-5.