The land

Where is Yorubaland?

Yorubaland is the homeland of the Yoruba people in West Africa: the south-west of Nigeria, reaching west into Benin and Togo, between the Atlantic coast and the Niger.

Hover over or tap a town to see one of its landmarks. The core of Yorubaland — the six south-western states of Nigeria (Lagos, Ogun, Ọ̀yọ́, Ọ̀ṣun, Ondo, Èkìtì) — is shown; Yoruba country continues into Kwara and Kogi states, and west across the border into Benin and Togo.

A land of towns

The Yoruba have been town-builders for centuries — Johnson's history opens with the country and its people, and devotes a chapter to the towns and villages, their walls, markets and government. Ilé-Ifẹ̀ is the sacred cradle of the Yoruba nation; Ọ̀yọ́ was the seat of empire; Ìbàdàn grew from a war camp into the largest city in tropical Africa of its day; Abẹ́òkúta rose under Olúmọ rock.

Read “Yoruba Towns and Villages” →
Read “Origin and Early History” →

Every town has a crown

Yoruba government is royal: each historic town owes allegiance to its oba — the Ọọ̀ni in Ifẹ̀, the Aláàfin in Ọ̀yọ́, the Aláké in Abẹ́òkúta and dozens more. See the royal crowns of Yorubaland →

Beyond the homeland

Yorubaland is where the story begins, not where it ends: the Yoruba world now stretches from Freetown to London, Havana to Salvador da Bahia. Explore the Yoruba diaspora →