According to estimations from 2018, Nigeria's major ethnic groups are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), and Fulani. Hausa people are estimated to make up 30 percent of the country's population. Hausa is an ethnic group of people speaking the Hausa language. The Hausa are mainly present in West Africa, most of them living between Nigeria and Niger. Another 30 percent of Nigeria's population is constituted by Yoruba and Igbo (Ibo), while about six percent of Nigerians are Fulani.

Nigeria has hundreds of ethnic groups that are usually divided and defined primarily by language. The country hosts more ethnic groups than any other African nation, ranking among the most ethnically-complex states in the world. Most of these ethnic groups are small and localized, with only a few playing a central role in Nigerian society. The major people groups of Nigeria are: Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo (Ibo).The advent of colonial rule in Nigeria brought the various ethnic groups increasingly into contact with one another. This integrative process was facilitated by the construction of connective infrastructure. This increasing development set in motion a process that led to greater contact and competition among the various ethnic groups for dominance and economic advantage. The Nigerian government has worked out tentative power-sharing arrangements to help ensure that its many ethnic groups have some say in society. However, cities remain largely segregated along ethno-religious lines and confrontation between ethnic groups is common. Often, ethnic clashes in one part of the country can set off a chain of reprisal riots and attacks in other parts of the country.Most major ethnic groups have seen the formation of ethnic-exclusive militias to protect alleged group interests and perpetrate violence against other ethnic groups. These vigilante groups continue to act with impunity for lack of stringent law enforcement in much of the state. These continued attacks and tensions among ethnic groups threaten to destabilize an already unsteady country.Hausa - Northern Nigeria is dominated by this ethnic group and is often considered unified with the Fulani through intermarriage of acculturation, generating the Hausa-Fulani as a single ethnic entity. The Hausa were predominately traders throughout the Sahara and Sahel regions but have become more concentrated in rural areas as farmers and herders. They are predominately Muslim with some of the smaller sub-groups such as the Maguzawa practicing indigenous faiths. Their religion is a key component to ethnic identity and continues to shape their role in modern Nigerian society and politics. The Hausa and Fulani were instrumental in establishing and maintaining Sharia in 11 of the country’s northern states.Fulani –The Fulani are an ethnic group of Muslims located in northern Nigeria that have often assimilated into the Hausa culture. At one point nomadic herders, they arrived in the Hausa states sometime in the early 13th century. Many have intermarried with the Hausa and have mostly adopted those customs and language, although some Fulani choose to stay "pure" by retaining a nomadic lifestyle, their own language, and cultural autonomy. The Fulani are most distinctively known for a dispute that developed between them and the local King of Gobir, which developed into a jihad ending with a Fulani conquest of the Hausa states in the early 1800s.Yoruba – The Yoruba are Christian/Muslims living in southwestern Nigeria united by their common belief that Ife is their place of origin and the Oni of Ife is their spiritual leader. Their mythology holds that "Oduduwa" created the earth and that royal houses of the Yoruba kingdoms can trace their ancestry back to "Oduduwa.” Yoruba society is organized into kingdoms, the greatest of which was called Oyo. The Oyo Empire collapsed in 1830, when Afonja, broke away from the rest of the Yoruba culture and lost his empire to the Fulani. This event occurred in close temporal proximity to the Fulani Jihad, but was not associated with it. As Islam and Christianity spread to Yorubaland over the past few centuries, the group embraced both faiths alongside its many traditional and animist beliefs. This blend and acceptance of religion survives in modern society and has mitigated some religious conflict in places where Yoruba form the majority.Igbo (Ibo) – The Igbo are the main ethnic group living in southeastern Nigeria. They have represented some of the staunchest opponents to the establishment of Sharia in the North where some minority Igbo populations exist. As opposed to Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba cultures, the Igbo were traditionally decentralized and non-hierarchical, making them more receptive to European conversion efforts.Under British colonial rule, many Igbo served in government and military roles and were later key players in the 1960 Nigerian independence movement. In January 1966, Igbo leader General Ironsi established a military coup in Nigeria to try and unify a fragmented, newly-independent Nigeria. The northern section of the country believed there was an Igbo conspiracy with the establishment of the new government. In July 1966, a counter-attack was staged by northern military officers in response to the constitution of another new government. Chaos ensued and about 50,000 Igbo were killed in northern Nigeria. To put an end to chaos and upheaval, groups in eastern Nigeria declared themselves as an independent sovereign state known as “Biafra" on 30 May 1967. The Igbo secessionist movement in Biafra led to a 30-month war (Biafran War) with the Nigerian government, in which hundreds of thousands of Igbo starved to death. After the war, Igbo were reintegrated into Nigerian society, but in a more marginalized role. Despite lingering ethnic tension, they now play an important part in southeastern Nigeria's oil trade.

ISO3 - International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code

PEOPLEGP_1 - People group level one

PEOPLEGP_2 - People group level two

PEOPLEGP_3 - People group level three

ALT_NAME - Alternate names or spellings for people groups

SOURCE_DT - Primary source creation date

SOURCE - Primary source

Collection

This shapefile created by using Anthromapper consists of ethnic layers that have been primarily based on the 1959 Murdock map of Africa with an addition of the Anaang people group based on a general location provided by Ethnologue. Geographical terrain features, combined with a watershed model, were also used to predict the likely extent of ethnic and linguistic influence. The HGIS data and metadata were supplemented with anthropological information from peer-reviewed journals and published books. The interpretation of ethnic names often produces multiple spellings of the same people groups; therefore similarly spelled or phonetic titles may be referencing the same group.

The data included herein have not been derived from a registered survey and should be considered approximate unless otherwise defined. While rigorous steps have been taken to ensure the quality of each dataset, DigitalGlobe Analytics is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of data compiled from outside sources.

Sources (HGIS)

Anthromapper. DigitalGlobe Analytics, March 2013.

Murdock, George Peter. Tribal Map of Africa from Africa: Its Peoples and Their Culture History. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., January 1959.

Interactive Murdock Map available at - http://worldmap.harvard.edu/africamap.

Ethnologue, “Anaang.” Last modified April 2013. Accessed April 2013. http://www.ethnologue.com

People Groups, “Nigeria.” Last modified April 2013. Accessed April 2013. http://peoplegroups.org.

Joshua Project, “Nigeria”. Last modified March 2013. Accessed April 2013. http://www.joshuaproject.net.

Sources (Metadata)

Walker, Andrew. United States Institute of Peace, "What is Boko Haram?." Last modified 2012. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.usip.org.

Buhayar, Noah. PBS, "Oil and Politics in Nigeria." Last modified 2007. Accessed April 8, 2013. www.pbs.org.

Bascom, William. Urbanization Among the Yoruba. Culture and Societies of Africa. Edited by Simon and Phoebe Ottenberg. New York: Random House, 1960.

Greenberg, Joseph H. Some Aspects of Negro-Mohammedan Culture Contact Among the Hausa. Culture and Societies of Africa. Edited by Simon and Phoebe Ottenberg. New York: Random House, 1960.

Levinson, David. Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 1998.

Ehwarieme, William. "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: The Displacement of Ethnicity by Corruption in Nigeria's Electoral Politics." Journal of Third World Studies. 26. no. 2 (2011): 181-206.

Paden, John. Religion and Political Culture in Kano. University of California Press: Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1973.

Suberu, Rotimi. Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria. Washington D.C.: United States Institute of Peace, 2001.

Joshua Project, “Nigeria”. Last modified April 2013. Accessed April 2013. http://www.joshuaproject.net.

VERSION 1.5. The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in Nigeria: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49). Methodology These high-resolution maps are created using machine learning techniques to identify buildings from commercially available satellite images. This is then overlayed with general population estimates based on publicly available census data and other population statistics at Columbia University. The resulting maps are the most detailed and actionable tools available for aid and research organizations. For more information about the methodology used to create our high resolution population density maps and the demographic distributions, click here. For information about how to use HDX to access these datasets, please visit: https://dataforgood.fb.com/docs/high-resolution-population-density-maps-demographic-estimates-documentation/ Adjustments to match the census population with the UN estimates are applied at the national level. The UN estimate for a given country (or state/territory) is divided by the total census estimate of population for the given country. The resulting adjustment factor is multiplied by each administrative unit census value for the target year. This preserves the relative population totals across administrative units while matching the UN total. More information can be found here

ethnic groups in Nigeria. name, image, country of origin, continent of origin, Language, Religion, religion, population

Nigeria: Demographic pressures, 0 (low) - 10 (high): The latest value from 2024 is 9.6 index points, unchanged from 9.6 index points in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 5.80 index points, based on data from 176 countries. Historically, the average for Nigeria from 2007 to 2024 is 8.86 index points. The minimum value, 8.2 index points, was reached in 2007 while the maximum of 9.6 index points was recorded in 2023.

There are over 500 known languages in Nigeria. While the official language is English, its use is largely confined to urban elites. The most commonly used languages are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo) and Fulfulde. Edo, Efik, Adamawa Fulfulde, Idoma, and Central Kanuri are also widely spoken. The area of greatest diversity is the ‘Middle Belt’, the band of territory stretching across the country between the large language blocs of the north and the south. The reason for this diversity remains unclear, but three of Africa's four language families meet in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. This has had sociolinguistic consequences where frequent conflicts have erupted between the culture and language of particular groups.

ISO3 - International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code

LANG_FAM - Language family

LANG_SUBGP - Language sub-family

SOURCE_DT - Primary source creation date

SOURCE - Primary source

Collection

This shapefile created by using Anthromapper consists of language layers that have been based on The World Language Mapping System (WLMS). Geographical terrain features, combined with a watershed model, were also used to predict the likely extent of ethnic and linguistic influence. The HGIS and metadata were supplemented with anthropological information from peer-reviewed journals and published books. The interpretation of names often produces multiple spellings of the same language; therefore similarly spelled or phonetic titles may be referencing the same language group.

The data included herein have not been derived from a registered survey and should be considered approximate unless otherwise defined. While rigorous steps have been taken to ensure the quality of each dataset, DigitalGlobe Analytics is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of data compiled from outside sources.

Sources (HGIS)

Anthromapper. DigitalGlobe Analytics, April 2013.

World Language Mapping System (WLMS) Version 16. World GeoDatasets, April 2013.

Sources (Metadata)

Roger, Blench. "Position Paper: The Dimensions of Ethnicity, Language, and Culture in Nigeria." Last modified 2013. Accessed March 26, 2013. http://www.rogerblench.info.

Roger, Blench. “The Status of the Languages of Central Nigeria.” Last modified 2013. Accessed March 26, 2013. http://www.rogerblench.info.

The primary languages spoken at home in Nigeria are Hausa, Yoruba, and English. In a survey conducted in 2022 around 32 percent of respondents declared that they mainly spoke Hausa at home. Some 17 percent, on the other hand, had Yoruba as their main family language. Igbo followed, with 13 percent of the respondents indicating it. Some other languages spoken in Nigerian households are English, Ibibio, Fulani, Tiv, Nupe, Pidgin English, and Ijaw.

One of the most diverse countries

There are over 500 languages in Nigeria. The country has only one official language, English. According to estimates from 2018, Nigeria's major ethnic groups are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, Tiv, Kanuri, and Beriberi. Hausa, the largest population, is an ethnic group of people speaking the Hausa language. The Hausa are mainly present in West Africa, most of them living between Nigeria and Niger.

English is the main language at school

The main language of instruction at school is generally English. However, for the first years of education, an indigenous or local language is also taught. As of 2019, around 72 percent of young women and 78 percent of young men in Nigeria were English language literates. This means they could understand, read, and write a short and simple statement in English, for instance, on their everyday life.

As of July 2024, Nigeria's population was estimated at around 229.5 million. Between 1965 and 2024, the number of people living in Nigeria increased at an average rate of over two percent. In 2024, the population grew by 2.42 percent compared to the previous year. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. By extension, the African continent records the highest growth rate in the world. Africa's most populous country Nigeria was the most populous country in Africa as of 2023. As of 2022, Lagos held the distinction of being Nigeria's biggest urban center, a status it also retained as the largest city across all of sub-Saharan Africa. The city boasted an excess of 17.5 million residents. Notably, Lagos assumed the pivotal roles of the nation's primary financial hub, cultural epicenter, and educational nucleus. Furthermore, Lagos was one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. Nigeria's youthful population In Nigeria, a significant 50 percent of the populace is under the age of 19. The most prominent age bracket is constituted by those up to four years old: comprising 8.3 percent of men and eight percent of women as of 2021. Nigeria boasts one of the world's most youthful populations. On a broader scale, both within Africa and internationally, Niger maintains the lowest median age record. Nigeria secures the 20th position in global rankings. Furthermore, the life expectancy in Nigeria is an average of 62 years old. However, this is different between men and women. The main causes of death have been neonatal disorders, malaria, and diarrheal diseases.

Frequency distribution of the socio-demographic characteristics of adults with high blood pressure in three selected states in Nigeria(N = 762).

Selected characteristics of known adults with high blood pressure in selected states in Nigeria (n = 394).

Relationship between selected characteristics and choice of treatment sought among adults with high blood pressure.

Socio-economic/demographic characteristics of respondents.

The world's population first reached one billion people in 1803, and reach eight billion in 2023, and will peak at almost 11 billion by the end of the century. Although it took thousands of years to reach one billion people, it did so at the beginning of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition; from this point onwards, population growth has skyrocketed, and since the 1960s the population has increased by one billion people every 12 to 15 years. The demographic transition sees a sharp drop in mortality due to factors such as vaccination, sanitation, and improved food supply; the population boom that follows is due to increased survival rates among children and higher life expectancy among the general population; and fertility then drops in response to this population growth. Regional differences The demographic transition is a global phenomenon, but it has taken place at different times across the world. The industrialized countries of Europe and North America were the first to go through this process, followed by some states in the Western Pacific. Latin America's population then began growing at the turn of the 20th century, but the most significant period of global population growth occurred as Asia progressed in the late-1900s. As of the early 21st century, almost two thirds of the world's population live in Asia, although this is set to change significantly in the coming decades. Future growth The growth of Africa's population, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, will have the largest impact on global demographics in this century. From 2000 to 2100, it is expected that Africa's population will have increased by a factor of almost five. It overtook Europe in size in the late 1990s, and overtook the Americas a decade later. In contrast to Africa, Europe's population is now in decline, as birth rates are consistently below death rates in many countries, especially in the south and east, resulting in natural population decline. Similarly, the population of the Americas and Asia are expected to go into decline in the second half of this century, and only Oceania's population will still be growing alongside Africa. By 2100, the world's population will have over three billion more than today, with the vast majority of this concentrated in Africa. Demographers predict that climate change is exacerbating many of the challenges that currently hinder progress in Africa, such as political and food instability; if Africa's transition is prolonged, then it may result in further population growth that would place a strain on the region's resources, however, curbing this growth earlier would alleviate some of the pressure created by climate change.

In 2020, around 98.5 percent of the Iranian population identified as Muslim. Around 81 percent identified as Shia Muslims in the same year, while a much smaller share followed the Sunni Muslim religion. In Iran, most Sunni Muslims belong to ethnic minority groups.

Iran’s demographics
The total population in Iran has grown steadily and is expected to surpass 90 million in 2028. The vast majority of the population in the country was between 15 and 64 years of age. At the same time, the share of people aged above 64 increased in recent years and constituted over seven percent of the total population.

Muslim population worldwide

In Europe, it was estimated that the Muslim population could triple by the middle of the century. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia had the largest share of Muslims as a proportion of its population. On the African continent, the highest number of Muslims was estimated in Nigeria, with close to a hundred million Islam followers. In the United States, less than one percent of the population identified as Muslims.

As recorded by the source, Moroccans ranked as the foreign nationality with more residents in Spain in 2023, closely followed by Romanians. After years of losing its foreign population, Spain’s immigration figures started to pick up in 2015, with the number of people that moved to the Mediterranean country surpassing the number of foreigners that decided to leave.

A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2022, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Ukranians.

Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood slightly over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died ore gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

In 2020/21 there were approximately 696,000 Polish nationals living in the United Kingdom, the highest non-British population at this time. Indian and Irish were the joint second-largest nationalities at approximately 370,000 people.