Gbagyi people

Gbari/Gbagyi people (Agbari/Agbagyi)
Total population
	c. 5 million
Regions with significant populations
	Nigeria
Languages
	Gbagyi/Gwari
Religion
	Majority Christian; Minority Islam; Traditional African religion;
Related ethnic groups
	Nupe people, Yoruba, Igala, Ebira

The Gbari or Gbagyi (plural - Agbari/Agbagyi)^[1] are an ethnic group found predominantly in Central Nigeria, with an estimated population figure put at 5.8 million, spread in four States, including the FCT, and located in thirty local Government areas, according to the 2006 National Population Census figures. It is also the name of their language. Members of the ethnic group speak two dialects. While speakers of the dialects were loosely called Gwari by both the Hausa Fulani and Europeans during pre-colonial Nigeria^[2] they prefer to be known as Gbagyi/Gbari. They live in the Niger, the Federal Capital Territory - Abuja, and Kaduna State.^[3] They are also found in Nasarawa central Nigeria Area. Gbagyi/Gbari is one of the most populated ethnic groups in the middle belt and indigenous in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. This means Gbagyi people are the bonafide owners of the Nigerian capital city, Abuja.^[4]^[5]

^ "Homeland Appears to be Between Niger and Benue Confluence". The African Guardian. January 1986. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
^ Shekwo, pp. 18.
^ Smith, B. J. (1981). "Slope Evolution in the Gwari Hills, Kaduna State, Nigeria". Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 2 (1): 57–67. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9493.1981.tb00119.x. ISSN 0129-7619.
^ Chigudu Tanko Theophilus (2008), A brief History of the Gbagyi Speaking People, an unpublished Article
^ Mefor, Law (16 December 2008). "Is FCT truly a federal zone?". Daily Independent. Nigeria: Independent Newspapers Limited (Lagos), via odili.net. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

[1] "Homeland Appears to be Between Niger and Benue Confluence". The African Guardian. January 1986. Retrieved 2016-04-16.

[2] Shekwo, pp. 18.

[3] Smith, B. J. (1981). "Slope Evolution in the Gwari Hills, Kaduna State, Nigeria". Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 2 (1): 57–67. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9493.1981.tb00119.x. ISSN 0129-7619.

[4] Chigudu Tanko Theophilus (2008), A brief History of the Gbagyi Speaking People, an unpublished Article

[5] Mefor, Law (16 December 2008). "Is FCT truly a federal zone?". Daily Independent. Nigeria: Independent Newspapers Limited (Lagos), via odili.net. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

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