The Global Footprint of the Yoruba Language

The Yoruba Language – A West African language with a global cultural footprint.

1. Core Yoruba Homeland (West Africa)

The Yoruba people are indigenous to South-Western Nigeria and adjoining parts of the Republic of Benin and Togo.

🇳🇬 Nigeria (Primary Homeland)

Yoruba language and culture dominate the following Nigerian states:

• Lagos

• Ogun

• Oyo

• Osun

• Ondo

• Ekiti

• Large parts of Kwara and Kogi

This area is often referred to historically as Yorubaland, with ancient urban centers such as Ile-Ife, Oyo, Ijebu, Akure, and Ogbomosho playing central roles in Yoruba civilization.

Ile-Ife, in particular, is regarded as the spiritual and historical cradle of the Yoruba people.

🇧🇯 Benin Republic

Significant Yoruba-speaking communities exist in:

• Porto-Novo (historically a Yoruba city)

• Covè

• Kétou

• Sakété

In Benin, Yoruba speakers are often bilingual (Yoruba + French) but retain strong cultural and linguistic continuity with Nigerian Yoruba communities.

🇹🇬 Togo

Smaller but historically connected Yoruba-speaking populations exist in southeastern Togo, closely linked to Benin Yoruba groups.

2. Yoruba Diaspora (The Atlantic & Modern World)

🇧🇷 Brazil (Largest Diaspora Presence)

Brazil hosts the largest Yoruba-derived population outside Africa, as a result of the transatlantic slave trade.

Key regions include:

• Bahia (Salvador in particular)

• Rio de Janeiro

• São Paulo

While modern Brazilians may not speak Yoruba conversationally, Yoruba cosmology, vocabulary, names, and ritual language survive powerfully through Candomblé and Afro-Brazilian cultural expressions.

Many Yoruba words and concepts—Orisha, Aṣẹ (Axé), Ifá—remain actively used.

🇨🇺 🇭🇹 🇺🇸 Caribbean & Americas

• Cuba (Santería / Lucumí tradition)

• Haiti

• Trinidad & Tobago

• United States (especially New York, Florida, Texas)

In these regions, Yoruba survives ritually and philosophically, even where daily speech has faded.

Brazil Black Alone in 2022.svg

🌍 Modern Global Diaspora

 

 

Today, Yoruba speakers and cultural communities also exist in:

• United Kingdom

• Canada

• United States

• Germany

• France

These communities sustain the language through:

• Churches and spiritual centers

• Cultural associations

• Naming traditions

• Increasingly, online platforms like the very project you’re building