Introduction to Yoruba

About The Yoruba Language

The term “Yoruba” describes both a language and an ethnic group, thus Yoruba language is spoken by the Yoruba people, that is, people who primarily identify as belonging to the Yoruba ethnic community. The Yoruba is a West African language spoken by approximately 50-55 million people worldwide. As first language, Yoruba is spoken in Southwestern Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Sierra Leone (Schleicher 2008). It is also dominant in Lagos state as well as parts of Kwara and Midwestern States of Nigeria (Oso 1975). The Yoruba language, culture and religion is also present in the Diaspora, in countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti. The Yoruba culture is intricately linked to Yoruba religious beliefs, observed both in Yorubaland West Africa and the diaspora. It is the most widely studied west African language, with extensive literature and prominent scholars. One such prominent scholar from Yorubaland is Wole Soyinka.

Introduction to Yorùbá

(Updated November 16, 2025)

Yorùbá is a West African language spoken in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, as well as Sierra Leone. As part of the Niger-Congo language family, Yorùbá is connected (if distantly) with languages such as Zulu and Swahili, spoken in Southern and East Africa respectively. Ahia et al. (p. 1) estimate that the West African region is home to 47 million native speakers of Yorùbá dialects (see this map from Ahia et al. for dialect distribution).

You will also find Yorùbá language and culture in the West African diaspora, particularly in the Caribbean and Brazil, where traditional Yorùbá spirituality has also influenced several syncretic religious traditions. In the Americas, the spiritual lexicon derived from Yorùbá is referred to as Lucumí (Brandon, p. 56).

Ahia, O., Aremu, A., Abagyan, D., Gonen, H., Adelani, D., Abolade, D., Smith, N., & Tsvetkov, Y. (2024). Voices Unheard: NLP Resources and Models for Yorùbá Regional Dialects. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.19564

Brandon, G. (2000). Santeria from Africa to the New World: The dead sell memories. Indiana University Press.