According to the language family tree classification by Ethnologue, Okpe, Urhobo and Uvwie, alongside Eruwa and Isoko, make up the five Southwestern Edoid languages of the Benue-Congo group. Quoting Johnstone (1993), Ethnologue puts the population of Urhobo people at 546,000, Okpe 25,400 (2000) and Uvwie 19,800 (2000). These three languages have geographically neighbouring languages: Izon and Itsekiri to the west and south, Ukwuani and Isoko to the east and Edo to the north. Thus, Isoko and Urhobo are similar languages that belong to the same linguistic family.
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Urhobo language in the context of Urhobo people
The Urhobos are a people located in southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger Delta. They are the major ethnic group in Delta State. The people of this ethnic group speak the Urhobo language. Their population is approximately 7 million.
The Urhobo people live in a territory bounded by latitudes 6° and 5°, 15° North and Longitudes 5°, 40° and 6°, 25° East in the Delta and Bayelsa States of Nigeria. Their neighbors are the Isoko to the southeast, the Itsekiri and Ijaw to the west, the Edo people to the north, the Ijaw to the south and the Ukwuani people to the northeast.