Culture of Nigeria

The palace of the Emir of Bida.

The Benin ivory mask from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Igbo tribespeople during a ceremonial occasion.

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The culture of Nigeria is shaped by Nigeria's multiple ethnic groups.^[1][2] The country has 527 languages,^[3][4] seven of which are extinct.^[5][6][7] Nigeria also has over 1,150 dialects and ethnic groups. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausas that are predominantly in the north, the Yorubas who predominate in the southwest, and the Igbos in the southeast.^{[8][9][10][11]} There are many other ethnic groups with sizeable populations across the different parts of the country. The Kanuri people^[12] are located in the northeast part of Nigeria, the Tiv people^[13] of north central and the Efik-Ibibio^[14] are in the south South. The Bini people^[15][16] are most frequent in the region between Yorubaland and Igboland.^[17][18]

Nigeria's other ethnic groups, sometimes called 'minorities', are found throughout the country but especially in the north and the middle belt. The traditionally nomadic Fulani can be found all over West and Central Africa.^[19] The Fulani and the Hausa are almost entirely Muslim, while the Igbo are almost completely Christian and so are the Bini and the Ibibio. The Yoruba make up about 21% of the country's population – estimated to be over 225 million – and are predominantly Muslim, with a notable Christian minority and a smaller presence of traditionalists.^[20][21][22] Indigenous religious practices remain important to all of Nigeria's ethnic groups however, and frequently these beliefs are blended with Christian or Muslim beliefs, a practice known as syncretism.^[23]