Major Cultural Practices of the Yoruba Ethnic Group of Western Nigeria

Back in the 7th century BCE, there were African inhabitants in the geographical space currently identified as Yoruba land sharing a common language and ethnicity, however, these people were not known as Yoruba at the time. As of the 8th century, a powerful kingdom already existed in Ile-gbo, currently known as Ile-Ife. It was one of the earliest in Africa, and considered the capital of the realm of humanity, as it was associated with Oduduwa, Obatala, and Sango. The Yoruba people constitute an ethnic group that live in Western Africa, particularly Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Liberia, making up over 50 million people worldwide. Though as a result of slave trade,when several people of Yoruba origin where taken to work on plantations in Europe and America; Yorubas can now be found in Brazil, Cuba, the Caribbean and other countries. Yet Nigeria still has the vast majority of the Yorubas , where they consist of over 23% of the country's population, being one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa.
They speak the Yoruba language — the Niger-Congo language with the highest number of native speakers. The Yorubas share borders with the Itsekiri to the south-east, the Niger Delta to the North West, and Bariba, as well as Benin republic to the north. To the northeast is the Ebira, and to the east is Edo. They share borders with the Esan and the Afemai groups in mid-western Nigeria. Finally, to the southwest are the Gun, Fon, and Ewe communities. They have various cultural practices that they value highly. Some of these practices are child naming, wedding (owambe), and funeral. A major belief in the Yoruba worldview is that the three most significant moments in a person`s life are when they are born, when they get married, and when they die.