Nigerian
|
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Nigeria
|
177,155,754 |
 Benin
|
6,000,000 |
 Cameroon
|
4,000,000 |
 Ghana
|
1,000,000 |
 United Kingdom
|
800,000 |
 United States
|
266,000 |
 Togo
|
200,000 |
 Ivory Coast
|
75,000 |
 Italy
|
53,613 |
 Spain
|
44,870 |
 Germany
|
40,000 |
 South Africa
|
24,000 |
Nigerians or Nigerian people are citizens and/or people with ancestry from Nigeria. Nigeria is composed of multiple ethnic groups and cultures and the term Nigerian refers to a citizenship-based civic nationality. Nigerians derive from over 250 ethnic groups and languages. Though there are multiple ethnic groups in Nigeria, economic factors result in significant mobility of Nigerians of multiple ethnic and religious backgrounds to reside in territories in Nigeria that are outside their ethnic or religious background, resulting in the intermixing of the various ethnic and religious groups, especially in Nigeria's cities. The English language is the lingua franca of Nigerians. About 50 percent of Nigerians are Muslims and the other 50 percent are Christians.
Nigerians come from multiple ethnic and religious backgrounds as the creation of Nigeria was the result of a colonial creation by the British Empire that did not correlate with ethnic and religious boundaries.
There have been several major historical states in Nigeria that have influenced Nigerian society via their kings and their legal and taxation systems, and the use of religion to legitimize the power of the king and to unite the people. Northern Nigeria has been culturally influenced by Islamic influence including several major historic Islamic states in the region. The Kanem-Bornu Empire and the Sokoto Caliphate were major historical Islamic states in northern Nigeria. Southern Nigeria historically held several powerful states, including the Benin Empire and Oyo Empire, Ife Empire and several other Yoruba states.
Nigerian culture was profoundly affected by the British colonial rule. Such as British colonial authorities' denouncements and attacks upon polygamy, trial by ordeal, and certain types of sacrifices. At the same time, British colonial authorities maintained and promoted traditional Nigerian culture that strengthened colonial administration. The British spread Christianity throughout southern Nigeria and Christian missionaries assisted British authorities in establishing a Western-style education system in Nigeria that resulted in the teaching of the English language in Nigeria and its subsequent adoption as Nigeria's main language. The British replaced unpaid household labour with wage labour. Prior to colonization in the twentieth century, Nigeria's tribes usually possessed the land as a community, such that land could not be bought or sold. Colonization brought the notion of individuals owning land and commercialization of land began.
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Wikipedia