Yoruba people in the context of "Prostration"

The Sahelian kingdoms were a series of centralized kingdoms or empires that were centered on the Sahel, the area of grasslands south of the Sahara, from the 8th century to the 19th. The wealth of the states came from controlling the trade routes across the desert. Their power came from having large pack animals like camels and horses that were fast enough to keep a large empire under central control and were also useful in such kind of battle. All of these empires were also quite decentralized with member cities having a great deal of autonomy.

The Sahel states were limited from expanding south into the forest zone of the Bono and Yoruba as mounted warriors were all but useless in the forests and the horses and camels could not survive the diseases of the region.

Lagos (/ˈleɪɡɒs/ LAY-goss; Yoruba: Èkó [èkó]), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. As of November 2025, the size of the city's population has been estimated to stand between 17 and 21 million residents, making Lagos the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until the government's December 1991 decision to relocate its capital to Abuja, in the centre of the country. Apart from serving as a major African financial center, Lagos has also played a significant role in the national economy, serving as the economic hub of Lagos State and the entire country of Nigeria. The city has a significant influence on commerce, entertainment, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, and fashion in Africa. Lagos is also among the top ten of the world's fastest-growing cities and urban areas. A megacity, it has the second-highest GDP in Africa, and houses one of the largest and busiest seaports on the continent. Due to the large urban population and port traffic volumes, Lagos is classified as a Medium-Port Megacity.

Lagos emerged as a home to the Awori people, an Ijebu subgroup of the Yoruba of West Africa, in the 15th century, which is contained across the present-day Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Amuwo-Odofin, and Apapa. Before the 15th century, the Awori settled on a farmstead along the coastal line, in and around which they worked and lived. Farmstead translates to Ereko in Yoruba, from which comes the Lagos indigenous name Eko. The lands are separated by creeks, fringing the southwest mouth of Lagos Lagoon, while being protected from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands and long sand spits such as Bar Beach, which stretch up to 100 km (62 mi) east and west of the mouth. Due to rapid urbanisation, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present-day Lagos Mainland, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, and Surulere. This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas: the Island, which was the original city of Lagos, and the Mainland, which it has since expanded into. This city area was governed directly by the Federal Government through the Lagos City Council until the creation of Lagos State in 1967, which led to the splitting of Lagos city into the present-day seven Local Government Areas (LGAs), and the addition of other towns (which now make up 13 LGAs) from the then Western Region to form the state.

The Malagasy (French: Malgache or Malagasy: Gasy) are the Austronesian-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the island country of Madagascar. They emerged over several centuries through interaction between Austronesians from Maritime Southeast Asia, who settled mainly in the island's interior, and Bantu migrants from Southeast Africa who arrived later and established communities along the coasts. Traditionally, the Malagasy have been divided into various sub-ethnic groups. The "Highlanders," such as the Merina and Betsileo of the central highlands around Antananarivo, Alaotra (Ambatondrazaka) and Fianarantsoa, tend to have more Austronesian ancestry. In contrast, the "coastal dwellers," including the Sakalava, Bara, Vezo, Betsimisaraka, and Mahafaly, generally have a higher proportion of Bantu ancestry.

The Merina are broadly divided into two subgroups that differ in their ancestral composition. The first, often referred to as the "Merina A," includes the Hova and Andriana classes, who possess approximately 77 percent Asian ancestry (mainly from Borneo and other Austronesian peoples, with around 7 percent Han-related), 20 percent African ancestry (largely Bantu and Yoruba-related), and about 3 percent from other origins. The second subgroup, known as the "Merina B" or Andevo, have roughly 50 percent African ancestry, 46 percent Asian (primarily Austronesian with minor Han-related ancestry), and 4 percent from other sources. The Malagasy population was 2,242,000 in the first census in 1900. Their population had a massive growth in the next hundred years, especially under the French colonial period as French Madagascar.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the sixth most populous in the world. Nigeria is also one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, with approximately 218.5 million people in an area of 923,768 km (356,669 sq mi).

54.3% of Nigerians are urban dwellers, with the annual rate of urbanisation being estimated at 3.92%. Nigeria is home to 371 ethnic groups speaking over 500 languages and the variety of customs and traditions among them gives the country great cultural diversity. The three largest ethnic groups, namely the Hausas, Yorubas, and Igbos constitute more than 60% of the population. The Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ogoni, Tiv, Urhobo-Isoko, Edo and Itsekiri are some of the other sizeable ethnic groups. Over 1.2 million people living in Nigeria (0.5% of its total population, or 1 in every 200 people living in Nigeria) are from a continent other than Africa. There are 100,000 people from the United States, 75,000 are from Lebanon, 60,000 are from China and 16,000 are from the United Kingdom.

Islam is one of the major religions in Nigeria, with a history that spans over a millennium. While some scholars suggest that Islam was introduced to the region as early as the 9th century, it is more commonly accepted that the religion began to take root in what is now modern-day Nigeria around the 11th century. The spread of Islam was primarily facilitated by trade routes across the Sahara and the influence of Muslim merchants and scholars.

By the 19th century, the Sokoto Caliphate, founded through the Fulani Jihad led by Usman dan Fodio, established Islam as the predominant religion in northern Nigeria. The religion also spread to the southwest among the Yoruba through trade and cultural exchange.

Yoruba (US: /ˈjɔːrəbə/, UK: /ˈjɒrʊbə/; Yor. Èdè Yorùbá [èdè jōɾùbá]) is a Niger-Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. Yoruba speakers number roughly 50 million, including around 2 million second-language or L2 speakers. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria, Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

Yoruba vocabulary is also used in African diaspora religions such as the Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda, the Caribbean religion of Santería in the form of the liturgical Lucumí language, and various Afro-American religions of North America. Among modern practitioners of these religions in the Americas, Yoruba is a liturgical language, as most of them are not fluent in it, yet they still use Yoruba words and phrases for songs or chants, which are rooted in cultural traditions. For such practitioners, the Yoruba lexicon is especially common for ritual purposes, and these modern manifestations have taken new forms that do not depend on vernacular fluency.

Landed nobility or landed aristocracy is a category of nobility in the history of various countries, for which landownership was part of their noble privileges. The landed nobility show noblesse oblige, they have duty to fulfill their social responsibility. Their character depends on the country.

• The notion of landed gentry in the United Kingdom and Ireland varied over time.
• In Russian Empire landed nobles were called pomeshchiks, with the term literally translated as "estate owner".
• Junker is the landed nobility class of Prussia and eastern Germany.
• Landadel were the landed nobility of the Holy Roman Empire.
• In Poland, szlachta were usually landowners, with magnates being the class of the wealthiest szlachta. Middle and smaller landed szlachta was called ziemiaństwo/ziemianie (from the word ziemia, land), usually translated as landed gentry.
• In some places, e.g., in Low Countries before Spanish rule, urban nobility with landed estates was distinct from landed nobility. In general, relations between landed nobility and towns was very complex in Europe.