View source for Igbo people

{{Short description|Ethnic group in Southern Nigeria}}
{{Redirect|Ndigbo|the pan-Igbo organization|Ohanaeze Ndigbo}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Igbomina]] or the [[Egba people]]}}
{{pp-protected|small=yes}}
{{Pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Igbo people
| native_name      = Ńdị́ Ìgbò
| native_name_lang = 
| flag             =
| flag_caption     = Complete map of Igboland
| image            = Igbo family in traditional attire.jpg
| image_caption    = Igbo family in traditional attire
| total            = {{circa|≈ 39,365,000}} (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sare|first=Watimagbo |date=2024 |title=Total population of the Igbo people |url=https://joshuaproject.net/clusters/190 |access-date=28 May 2024 |website=Joshuaproject.net}}</ref>
| region1          = {{NGA}}
| pop1             = 35,088,096 (15.2% of total population)<ref name="CIA Nigeria">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/#people-and-society |title=Nigeria country profile |author=Central Intelligence Agency |website=[[The World Factbook]] |date=23 October 2023 |access-date=2024-12-06}}</ref>
| region2          = {{USA}}
| pop2             = 117,000
| ref2             = <ref name="United States Census Bureau">{{Cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/mdat/#/search?ds=ACSPUMS1Y2022&rv=LANP&wt=PWGTP | title=Languages spoken in American Households, 2022 | publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=2024-12-06}}</ref>
| region3          = {{CMR}}
| pop3             = 114,000
| ref3             = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://peoplegroups.org/explore/PeopleGroupDetails.aspx?peid=12623#topmenu|title=PeopleGroups.org – Igbo of Cameroon|website=peoplegroups.org}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| region4          = {{GHA}}
| pop4             = 72,000
| ref4             = <ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=https://namibia.un.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/formattted%20SDG%206%20Igbo%20READING%20LIST_Final.pdf |title=Igbo READING LIST Final |website=namibia.un.org}}</ref>
| region5          = {{GNQ}}
| pop5             = 69,000
| ref5             = <ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12189 |title=Igbo people group in all countries |website=Joshua Project |access-date=2024-12-06}}</ref>
| region7          = {{GBR}}
| pop7             = 8,000
| ref7             = <ref name="auto1"/>
| region6          = {{CAN}}
| pop6             = 9,035 (2021)
| ref6             = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810018001 |title=Mother tongue by single and multiple mother tongue responses: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions |website=www150.statcan.gc.ca |date=17 August 2022 |access-date=2024-12-06}}</ref>
| region8          = {{GMB}}
| pop8             = 7,700
| ref8             = <ref name="auto1"/>
| region9          = {{IRE}}
| pop9             = 6,000
| ref9             = <ref>{{cite news |last1=Murtagh |first1=Peter |title=Celebration of Ireland's Igbo community held in Dublin |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/celebration-of-ireland-s-igbo-community-held-in-dublin-1.1535137 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=25 June 2024 |language=en |date=24 September 2013}}</ref>
| region10         = {{EST}}
| pop10            = 152
| languages        = [[Igbo language|Igbo]], [[Igboid languages|Igboid]], [[Nigerian Pidgin]], [[Nigerian English]]
| religions        = [[Christianity]], [[Odinala|Omenala/Odinala]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ezekwugo |first=Charles M. |date=1991 |title=Omenana and Odinana in the Igbo World: A Philosophical Appraisal |url=https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=142885924 |journal=Africana Marburgensia |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=3–18}}</ref>
| related_groups   = 
| related-c        = [[Ibibio people|Ibibio]], [[Efik people|Efik]], [[Annang people|Annang]], [[Bahumono]], [[Ogoni people|Ogoni]], [[Idoma people|Idoma]], [[Igala people|Igala]], [[Edo people|Edo]], [[Ijaw people|Ijaw]], [[Ogoja]], [[Bamileke people|Bamileke]]

<div style="text-align: center;">[[African diaspora|(Diaspora)]] : [[African Americans]] • [[Afro Caribbean ]] • [[Americo-Liberian people|Americo Liberian]] • [[Sierra Leone Creole people|Krio]] </div>
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|people='''Ńdị́ Ìgbò'''|language=[[Igbo language|Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò]]|country=[[Igboland|Àlà Ìgbò]]}}

The '''Igbo people''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|iː|b|oʊ}} {{respell|EE|boh}},<ref name="pronunciation">{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alex-trebek-jeopardy-pronounciation_us_5bef2bd9e4b07573881e87ce|first=Shirley Ngozi|last=Nwangwa|newspaper=Huffington Post|title=Why It Matters That Alex Trebek Mispronounced The Name Of My People On 'Jeopardy!'|access-date=26 November 2018|date=26 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Igbo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182626/https://www.lexico.com/definition/igbo |archive-date=22 March 2020 |title=Igbo |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|USalso|ˈ|ɪ|ɡ|b|oʊ}} {{respell|IG|boh}};<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/igbo|title=Igbo|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=25 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Ibo|access-date=25 July 2019}}</ref> also spelled '''Ibo'''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Isichei|first1=Elizabeth|title=Igbo Worlds|date=1978|publisher=Institute for the Study of Human Issues}}</ref><ref name=EB>"{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Ibo |volume=14 |page=223}}</ref> and historically also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'',<ref name="jamaicaigbo">
{{cite book | last = Lovejoy | first = Paul | title = Identity in the Shadow of Slavery | publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group | page=58 | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-8264-4725-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEHVCsSFRUcC&pg=PA58}} /
{{cite book |title=In the Realm of Ghosts and Hauntings |first=E. Randall |last=Floyd |publisher=Harbor House |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-891799-06-8 |page=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8p8OyMHWTYC&pg=PA51}} /
{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Jamaican English |first=Frederic Gomes |edition=2nd |last=Cassidy |author2=Robert Brock Le Page |publisher=University of the West Indies Press |year=2002 |page=168 |isbn=978-976-640-127-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lmFzFgsTZYC&pg=PA168}}</ref> ''Eboans'',<ref>{{cite book |title=The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |author-link=Olaudah Equiano |page=27 |publisher=I. Knapp |year=1837 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXVkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA27}}</ref> ''Heebo'';<ref>{{cite book|title=Studies in Southern Nigerian History: A Festschrift for Joseph Christopher Okwudili Anene 1918–68 |first=Boniface I. |last=Obichere |publisher=Routledge |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-7146-3106-6 |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYFxE8-uSa4C&pg=PA207}}</ref>
natively {{lang|ig|'''Ńdị́ Ìgbò'''}}) are an [[ethnic group]] found in [[Nigeria]], [[Cameroon]],<ref name="Forrest 1994 2722">{{cite book |last=Forrest |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i0NinkShiHYC&pg=PA272 |title=The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-7486-0492-0 |edition=illustrated |page=272}}</ref> [[Gabon]], and [[Equatorial Guinea]].<ref name=UCR>{{cite web | title=The Igbo of Nigeria: History and Culture| website=faculty.ucr.edu | date=2010-11-16 | url=https://faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/igbo/igbo2.htm | access-date=2025-09-04}}</ref> Their primary origin is found in modern-day [[Abia State|Abia]], [[Anambra State|Anambra]], [[Ebonyi State|Ebonyi]], [[Enugu State|Enugu]], and [[Imo State]]s, while others can be found in the [[Niger Delta]] and along the [[Cross River (Nigeria)|Cross River]].<ref name=UCR/> The Igbo people are one of the largest [[List of ethnic groups of Africa|ethnic groups in Africa]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Nigeria: The Bradt Travel Guide |first=Lizzie |last=Williams |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84162-239-2 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fwuQ71ZbaOcC&pg=PA32}}</ref>

The [[Igbo language]]<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |title=Igbo {{!}} Culture, Lifestyle, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Igbo |access-date=7 March 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> is part of the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger-Congo language family]]. Its regional dialects are  mutually intelligible amidst the larger "[[Igboid languages|Igboid]]" cluster.<ref name=dialect>{{cite book |title= African languages, development and the state |first1=Richard |last1=Fardon |first2=Graham |last2=Furniss |publisher= Routledge |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-415-09476-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_34ReDEC2hMC&pg=PA66 |page=66 |access-date=12 April 2009}}</ref>
The Igbo homeland straddles the lower Niger River, east and south of the [[Edoid languages|Edoid]] and [[Idomoid languages|Idomoid]] groups, and west of the [[Lower Cross River languages|Ibibioid]] (Cross River) cluster.

Before the period of [[Colonial Nigeria|British colonial rule]] in the 20th century, the Igbo people were largely governed by the centralized chiefdoms of [[Kingdom of Nri|Nri]], [[Aro Confederacy]], [[Agbor]], [[Kingdom of Aboh]] and [[Onitsha]].<ref>{{cite book|title= The End of slavery in Africa |first1= Suzanne |last1= Miers |first2= Richard L. |last2= Roberts |publisher= University of Wisconsin Press |year= 1988 |isbn=978-0-299-11554-8 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=G3VSwvEG4QcC&pg=PA437 |page= 437}}</ref> The Igbo people became [[Christianity in Nigeria|overwhelmingly Christian]] during the evangelism of the missionaries in the colonial era in the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=191394238#:~:text=Christian%20missionary%20attempts%20to%20convert,country%20that%20missionary%20evangelism%20prospered | title=Colonialism and Christianity in West Africa: The Igbo Case, 1900–1915 | journal=The Journal of African History | date=1971 | volume=12 | issue=1 | pages=103–115 | last1=Ekechi | first1=Felix K. | doi=10.1017/S0021853700000098 | s2cid=162515367 }}</ref> In the wake of [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonisation]], the Igbo developed a strong sense of ethnic identity. Christianity and [[Odinala|Omenala/Odinala]] are the major religions, with Islamic minorities.<ref name="brit1">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Igbo|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282215/Igbo|access-date=1 February 2009|encyclopedia=[[Britannica Online]]}}</ref>

After ethnic tensions following the independence of Nigeria in 1960, the Igbos seceded from Nigeria and attempted to establish a new independent country called [[Biafra]], triggering the [[Nigerian Civil War]] (1967–1970).<ref>{{cite book |last=Forsythe |first=Frederick |year=2006 |title=Shadows: Airlift and Airwar in Biafra and Nigeria 1967–1970 |page=1 |publisher=Hikoki Publications |isbn=978-1-902109-63-3}}</ref> Millions of Biafran civilians died from starvation after the Nigerian military formed a blockade around Biafra, an event that led to international media promoting [[Biafran airlift|humanitarian aid for Biafra]]. Biafra was eventually defeated by Nigeria and reintegrated into the country. The [[Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra]] and the [[Indigenous People of Biafra]] (IPOB), two organizations formed after 1999, continue to struggle for an independent Igbo state.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adekson |first=Adedayo Oluwakayode |url=https://archive.org/details/civilsocietyprob0000adek |title=The "civil society" problematique: deconstructing civility and southern Nigeria's ethnic radicalization |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-415-94785-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/civilsocietyprob0000adek/page/86/mode/2up 87], [https://archive.org/details/civilsocietyprob0000adek/page/96/mode/2up 96] |url-access=limited}}</ref>

== Definition and subgroups ==
{{Igbo people}}
"Igbo" as a unitary identity for all Igbo speaking people developed comparatively recently, in the context of decolonisation and the Nigerian Civil War. The various Igbo-speaking communities were historically decentralised;<ref name="pg120 encyclo">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of World Cultures |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_q6n9/page/120 120] |first=David |last=Levinson |author2=Timothy J O'Leary |isbn=978-0-8161-1815-1 |publisher=G.K. Hall |year=1995 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_q6n9/page/120 }}</ref> in the opinion of Nigerian novelist [[Chinua Achebe]], Igbo identity should be placed somewhere between a "tribe" and a "nation".<ref name=exile>{{cite book |title= Home and Exile |last= Achebe |first= Chinua |author-link= Chinua Achebe |year= 2000 |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] US |isbn= 978-0-19-513506-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/homeexile00ache/page/4 4] |url= https://archive.org/details/homeexile00ache |url-access= registration |quote=...Igbo people might score poorly on the [[Oxford English Dictionary|Oxford dictionary]] test for tribe... Now, to call them a nation... This may not be perfect for the Igbo, but it is close.}}</ref>

== Etymology ==

Forms of the name ''Igbo'' – (formerly also spelled ''Heebo'', ''Eboe'', or ''Ibo'') have been used in Western literature at least since the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adugna |first=Gabe |title=Research: Language Learning: Igbo: Home |url=https://library.bu.edu/igbo/Home |access-date=29 May 2024 |website=library.bu.edu |language=en}}</ref> Some theories give it the meaning "forest dwellers", connect it to "the ancients" (''Ndi-gbo''), or suggest that it simply refers to "a community of people".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oriji |first1=John N. |title=Political Organization in Nigeria since the Late Stone Age: A History of the Igbo People |date=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-230-62193-0 |page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jeffrey |first1=M. D. W |title=The Umunri Tradition of Origin |date=1956 |journal=African Studies |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=119–131|doi=10.1080/00020185608706990 }}</ref>

== History ==
=== Prehistory ===
{{further|Niger–Congo homeland}}
The Igboid languages form a cluster within the [[Volta–Niger languages|Volta–Niger]] phylum, most likely grouped with [[Yoruboid languages|Yoruboid]] and [[Edoid languages|Edoid]].<ref>Williamson & Blench (2000) 'Niger–Congo', in Heine & Nurse, ''African Languages''. {{ISBN|9780521661782}}</ref> The greatest differentiation within the Igboid group is between the [[Ekpeye people|Ekpeye]], and the rest. Williamson (2002) argues that based on this pattern, proto-Igboid migration would have moved down the Niger from a more northern area in the savannah and first settled close to the delta, with a secondary center of Igbo proper more to the north, in the [[Awka]] area.<ref>Kay Williamson in Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa, F. N. Anozie, Nwanna Nzewunwa (eds.), ''The Early History of the Niger Delta'' (1988) 92f. {{ISBN|978-3871188480}}</ref> Genetic studies have shown the Igbo to cluster most closely with other Niger-Congo-speaking peoples.<ref>* {{cite journal | last1=Campbell | first1=Michael C. | last2=Tishkoff | first2=Sarah A. | title=African Genetic Diversity: Implications for Human Demographic History, Modern Human Origins, and Complex Disease Mapping | journal=Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics | volume=9 | issue=1 | date=1 September 2008 | issn=1527-8204 | doi=10.1146/annurev.genom.9.081307.164258 | pages=403–433| pmid=18593304 | pmc=2953791 }}</ref> The predominant Y-chromosomal haplogroup is [[Haplogroup E-M2|E1b1a1-M2]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Veeramah|first=Krishna R|author2=Bruce A Connell|author3=Naser Ansari Pour|author4=Adam Powell|author5=Christopher A Plaster|author6=David Zeitlyn|author7=Nancy R Mendell|author8=Michael E Weale|author9=Neil Bradman|author10=Mark G Thomas|date=31 March 2010|title=Little genetic differentiation as assessed by uniparental markers in the presence of substantial language variation in peoples of the Cross River region of Nigeria|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|volume=10|issue=1 |page=92|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-10-92|pmc=2867817|pmid=20356404 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010BMCEE..10...92V |quote=M191/P86 positive samples occurred in tested populations of [[Annang]] (38.3%), [[Ibibio people|Ibibio]] (45.6%), [[Efik people|Efik]] (45%), and Igbo (54.3%)}}</ref>

Pottery dated from around 3,000–2,500 BC<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Okonkwo|first1=Emeka E.|last2=Ibeanu|first2=A. M.|date=20 April 2016|title=Nigeria's Archaeological Heritage: Resource Exploitation and Technology|journal=SAGE Open|language=en|volume=6|issue=2|page=215824401665111|doi=10.1177/2158244016651111|s2cid=147944354|issn=2158-2440|doi-access=free}}</ref> showing similarities with later Igbo work was found at [[Nsukka]], and Afikpo regions of Igboland in the 1970s,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9N59DwAAQBAJ&q=Nsukka+neolithic+pottery&pg=PA19|title=Mmanwu and Mission among the Igbo People of Nigeria: An Inculturative Dialogue|first=Adolphus|last=Chikezie-Anuka |page=19 |date=2018|publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Münster |isbn=978-3-643-91063-9}}</ref> along with pottery and tools at nearby Ibagwa; the traditions of the [[Umuleri|Umueri]] clan have as their source the [[Anambra River|Anambra valley]]. In the 1970s, the [[Owerri]], [[Okigwe]], [[Orlu, Imo|Orlu]], [[Awgu]], [[Udi people|Udi]] and [[Awka]] divisions were determined to constitute "an Igbo heartland" from the linguistic and cultural evidence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Elizabeth |first=Isichei |title=A History of the Igbo People |publisher=London: Macmillan |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-333-18556-8}}; excerpted in "[https://archive.org/details/understandingthi0000ogba/page/75 Cultural Harmony I: Igboland—the World of Man and the World of Spirits]", section 4 of Kalu Ogbaa, ed., ''Understanding Things Fall Apart'' (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999; {{ISBN|0-313-30294-4}}), [https://archive.org/details/understandingthi0000ogba/page/83 pp. 83–85].</ref> In the Nsukka region of Igboland, evidence of early iron smelting has been excavated, dating to 750 BC at the site of [[Opi (archaeological site)|Opi]] and 2,000 BC at the site of [[Lejja]].<ref name="Eze-Uzomaka">{{cite journal|last1=Eze–Uzomaka|first1=Pamela|title=Iron and its influence on the prehistoric site of Lejja|url=https://www.academia.edu/4103707|website=Academia.edu|publisher=University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria|access-date=12 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Holl-2009">{{cite journal|last1=Holl|first1=Augustin F. C.|title=Early West African Metallurgies: New Data and Old Orthodoxy|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|date=6 November 2009|volume=22|issue=4|pages=415–438|doi=10.1007/s10963-009-9030-6|s2cid=161611760}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Nok: African Sculpture in Archaeological Context|last=Eggert|first=Manfred|publisher=Africa Magna Verlag Press|year=2014|isbn=978-3-937248-46-2|editor-last=Breunig|editor-first=P|location=Frankfurt, Germany|pages=53–54|chapter=Early iron in West and Central Africa|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBn1BQAAQBAJ&q=Nok+Breunig&pg=PA38}}</ref>

=== Kingdom of Nri ===
{{Main|Kingdom of Nri}}
[[File:Monument of Prince regent of Nri kingdom.jpg|alt=Monument of Prince regent of Nri kingdom|thumb|upright=0.85|Monument of Prince regent of Nri kingdom]]
The Nri and Aguleri people are in the territory of the Umueri clan who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure [[Eri (king)|Eri]].<ref name="isichei246">{{cite book |author=Isichei, Elizabeth Allo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgnhYDozENgC |title=A History of African Societies to 1870 |publisher=Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-521-45599-2 |page=512}}</ref> Eri's origins are unclear, though he has been described as a "sky being" sent by [[Chukwu]] (God).<ref name=isichei246 /><ref name=Uzukwu>{{cite book|last=Uzukwu |first=E. Elochukwu |title=Worship as Body Language |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8146-6151-2 |page=93 |publisher=Liturgical Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9hhmzVrYPHAC&pg=PA93}}</ref> He has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of [[Anambra State|Anambra]].<ref name="Uzukwu" /> The historian [[Elizabeth Isichei|Elizabeth Allo Isichei]] says "Nri and Aguleri and part of the Umueri clan, [are] a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being called Eri."<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of African Societies to 1870 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic/page/246 246] |isbn=978-0-521-45599-2 |first=Elizabeth Allo |last=Isichei |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic|url-access=registration |access-date=13 December 2008 | year=1997 | publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Archaeological evidence suggests that Nri [[Sphere of influence|influence]] in Igboland may go back as far as the 9th century,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hrbek |first1=Ivan |url=https://archive.org/details/africafromsevent0000unse/ |title=Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century |last2=Fāsī |first2=Muḥammad |publisher=Unesco |year=1988 |isbn=978-92-3-101709-4 |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/africafromsevent0000unse/page/254/mode/2up 254] |url-access=limited}}</ref> and royal burials at the [[Igbo-Ukwu]] sites have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. [[Eri (king)|Eri]], the god-like founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948 with other related Igbo cultures following after in the 13th century.<ref name=lovejoy62>{{cite book | last = Lovejoy | first = Paul | title = Identity in the Shadow of Slavery | publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group | page=62| year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-8264-4725-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEHVCsSFRUcC&pg=PA62}}</ref> The first Eze Nri (King of Nri) [[Eze Nri Ìfikuánim|Ìfikuánim]] followed directly after him. According to Igbo history, his reign started in 1043.<ref>{{cite book |title= Igbo Civilization: Nri Kingdom & Hegemony |first=M. Angulu |last=Onwuejeogwu |publisher=Ethnographica |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-905788-08-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWm4AAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

<blockquote>Each king traces his origin back to the founding ancestor, Eri. Each king is a ritual reproduction of Eri. The initiation rite of a new king shows that the ritual process of becoming [[Eze]] [[Kingdom of Nri|Nri]] (Nri priest-king) follows closely the path traced by the hero in establishing the Nri kingdom.
:— E. Elochukwu Uzukwu<ref>{{cite book|last=Uzukwu |first=E. Elochukwu |title=Worship as Body Language |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8146-6151-2 |page=93 |publisher=Liturgical Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9hhmzVrYPHAC&pg=PA98}}</ref></blockquote>The Kingdom of Nri was a religio-polity, a sort of theocratic state that developed in the central heartland of the Igbo region.<ref name="lovejoy62" /> The Nri had seven types of beliefs which included human (such as the birth of [[twin]]s), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Archaeology of Contextual Meanings |first=Ian |last=Hodder |edition=illustrated |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-521-32924-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pv48AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA72 |page=72}}</ref> object, temporal, behavioural, speech and place.<ref name="Nritaboo">{{cite book | last1=Nyang |first1=Sulayman |last2=Olupona |first2=Jacob K. | title = Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honour of John S. Mbiti | publisher = Mouton de Gruyter | location = Berlin | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-3-11-014789-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg3wuR95hk8C&pg=PA118 |page=118}}</ref> The rules regarding these beliefs were used to educate and govern Nri's subjects. This meant that, while certain Igbo communities may have lived under different formal administrations, all followers of the [[Odinani|Igbo religion]] had to abide by the rules of the faith and obey its representative on earth, the Eze Nri.<ref name="Nritaboo" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Archaeology of Contextual Meanings |first=Ian |last=Hodder |edition=illustrated |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-521-32924-8 |page=72}}</ref>

=== Igbo-Ukwu archaeology ===
[[File:Glass beads from Igbo-Ukwu.jpg|thumb|137x137px|Glass beads from [[Igbo-Ukwu]]]] [[File:Igbo ichi marks.jpg|thumb|upright|An Igbo man with facial [[scarification]]s, known as ''[[Ichi (scarification)|ichi]]'', early 20th century<ref>{{cite book |title=Among the Ibos of Nigeria: An Account of the Curious & Interesting Habits, Customs & Beliefs of a Little Known African People, by One who Has for Many Years Lived Amongst Them on Close & Intimate Terms |url=https://archive.org/details/amongibosofniger00basd |first=George Thomas |last=Basden |publisher=Seeley, Service |year=1921 |page=[https://archive.org/details/amongibosofniger00basd/page/184 184]}}</ref>]]

[[Igbo-Ukwu]] is a historically significant archaeological site located in southeastern Nigeria, in what is now [[Anambra State|Anambra]] State. The site is renowned for its remarkable discoveries of ancient artifacts that date back to the 9th and 10th centuries AD. The archaeological findings at Igbo-Ukwu have provided valuable insights into the early history and cultural achievements of the Igbo people and their interactions with other civilizations in the region. The artifacts may be associated with the traditional [[Kingdom of Nri]] and its priest-king, the Eze Nri.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=McIntosh |first=Susan Keech |date=1 December 2022 |title=Igbo-Ukwu at 50: A Symposium on Recent Archaeological Research and Analysis |journal=African Archaeological Review |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=369–385 |doi=10.1007/s10437-022-09495-5 |issn=1572-9842 |pmc=9640786 |pmid=36405395}}</ref>

Igbo-Ukwu has one of the oldest glass productions in West Africa. The archeology of Igbo-Ukwu had over 600 prestige objects including complex cast copper-alloy sculptures and more than 165,000 glass and carnelian beads.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=# IGBO UKWU (8th–early 12th century) {{!}} Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time |url=https://caravans.library.northwestern.edu/tour/long-reach-of-the-sahara/igbo/ |access-date=6 August 2023 |website=caravans.library.northwestern.edu}}</ref> The most common glass among the 138 analytical results for Igbo-Ukwu beads is soda-lime glass produced using plant ash.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=McIntosh |first=Susan |date=7 November 2022 |title=Igbo-Ukwu at 50: A Symposium on Recent Archaeological Research and Analysis |journal=National Center for Biotechnology Information |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=369–385 |doi=10.1007/s10437-022-09495-5 |pmid=36405395 |pmc=9640786 }}</ref>

Overall, Igbo-Ukwu remains a vital archaeological site that continues to contribute to our understanding of ancient African civilizations and their contributions to human history.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sutton |first=J. E. G. |date=1 March 2001 |title=Igbo-Ukwu and the Nile |journal=African Archaeological Review |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=49–62 |doi=10.1023/A:1006792806737 |s2cid=161228421 |issn=1572-9842}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Examples of artifacts found in Igbo-Ukwu
|align=center
|File:Double egg pendant, leaded bronze, 9th-10th century, unearthed in Igbo Ukwu, Anambra,.png|Double egg pendant, leaded bronze, 9th–10th century, unearthed in Igbo-Ukwu, [[Anambra State|Anambra]]
|File:Igbo ukwu face pendant.png|9th-century face pendant
|File:Bronze ornamental staff head, 9th century, Igbo-Ukwu.JPG|Bronze ornamental staff head, 9th century
|File:Shell Vessel with Leopard from Igbo-Ukwu,.png|Shell Vessel with Leopard
|File:Igbo-ukwu bowl.png|9th-century bowl or pot
|File:Intricate bronze ceremonial pot, 9th century, Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria.jpg|Intricate bronze ceremonial pot with [[glass beads]], 9th century
}}

=== Traditional society ===
Traditional Igbo political organization was based on a democratic [[Republicanism|republican]] system of government. In tight knit communities, this system guaranteed its citizens equality, as opposed to a feudalist system with a king ruling over subjects.<ref name="society">{{cite book |last=Furniss |first=Graham |url= |title=Power, Marginality and African Oral Literature |author2=Elizabeth Gunner |author3=Liz Gunner |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-48061-1 |page=65}}</ref> This government system was witnessed by the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] who first arrived and met with the Igbo people in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Igboland |first=Nkem Hyginus M. V. |last=Chigere |edition=illustrated |publisher=LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-8258-4964-1 |page=113 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAY8aQz4ztEC&pg=PA113}}</ref> With the exception of a few notable Igbo towns such as [[Onitsha]], which had kings called [[Obi (ruler)|Obi]] and places like the Nri Kingdom and Arochukwu, which had priest kings; Igbo communities and area governments were overwhelmingly ruled by a republican consultative assembly of the common people.<ref name=society /> Communities were usually governed and administered by a council of [[elder (administrative title)|elders]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Nigeria's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook |first=April A. |last=Gordon |edition=illustrated, annotated |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-57607-682-8 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H26pO3vwmHoC&pg=PA37}}</ref> Many Igbo towns however, were also partly governed the high council known as the [[Nze na Ozo|Ozo]] society, whose titles could be both earned and inherited. And the spiritual (though not political) authority of the king of Nri was recognized all over Igboland.<ref>Meek, C. (1937). Law and Authority in a Nigerian Tribe, Pub. London</ref><ref>Basden, G. (1921). Among the Ibos of Nigeria, Pub Nonsuch, p. 211-213</ref><ref>Jeffreys, M. (1951). The Winged Solar Disk, or Ibo Ichi Scarification, Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 93–111</ref> 
[[File:"Rich Women. Onitsha. (church members.)" G. F. Packer, 1880s.png|alt="Rich Women. Onitsha. (church members.)" G. F. Packer, 1880s|left|thumb|"Rich Women. Onitsha. (church members.)" G. F. Packer, 1880s]]
Although title holders were respected because of their accomplishments and capabilities, they were not revered as kings but often performed special functions given to them by such assemblies. This way of governing was different from most other communities of [[West Africa|Western Africa]] and only shared by the [[Ewe people|Ewe]] of [[Ghana]]. ''Umunna'' are a form of [[Patrilineality|patrilineage]] maintained by the Igbo. Law starts with the ''Umunna'' which is a male line of descent from a founding ancestor (who the line is sometimes named after) with groups of compounds containing closely related families headed by the eldest male member. The ''Umunna'' can be seen as the most important pillar of Igbo society.<ref>{{cite book|title=Christianity and Ibo culture |first=Edmund |last=Ilogu |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1974 |isbn=978-90-04-04021-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0uMUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA11 |page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Achievement as Value in the Igbo/African Identity: The Ethics |first1=Vernantius Emeka |last1=Ndukaihe |first2=Peter |last2=Fonk |publisher=LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-8258-9929-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERM77W_wgZYC&pg=PA204 |page=204}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Women in Igbo Life and Thought |first=Joseph Thérèse |last=Agbasiere |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-22703-2 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdOhY8HqTREC&pg=PA12 |access-date=19 December 2008}}</ref> It was also a culture in which gender was re-constructed and performed according to social need; "The flexibility of Igbo gender construction meant that gender was separate from biological sex. Daughters could become sons and consequently male."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society|url=https://archive.org/details/maledaughtersfem00amad|url-access=registration|last=Amadiume|first=Ifi|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|year=1987|isbn=978-1-78360-335-0|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/maledaughtersfem00amad/page/15 15]}}</ref>

Mathematics in indigenous Igbo society is evident in their calendar, [[Bank|banking system]] and strategic betting game called ''Okwe''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia |first=Douglas B. |last=Chambers |edition=illustrated |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57806-706-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrPxWLSrp78C&pg=RA1-PA183 |page=183}}</ref> In their [[Igbo calendar|indigenous calendar]], a week had four days, a month consisted of seven weeks, and 13 months made a year. In the last month, an extra day was added.<ref>{{cite book |title=Childrearing and Infant Care Issues: A Cross-cultural Perspective |first=Pranee |last=Liamputtong |publisher=Nova Publishers |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-60021-610-7 |page=155 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBnfqWtXDRwC&pg=PA155}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=African Cultural Astronomy: Current Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy Research in Africa |first=Jarita C. |last=Holbrook |author2=R. Thebe Medupe |author3=Johnson O. Urama |publisher=Springer, 2007 |isbn=978-1-4020-6638-2 |page=235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DJpDW6IAukC&pg=PA235 |date=1 January 2008 }}</ref> This calendar is still used in indigenous Igbo villages and towns to determine market days.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DJpDW6IAukC&pg=PA235 |page=35 |title=African Cultural Astronomy: Current Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy Research in Africa |first=Jarita C. |last=Holbrook |publisher=Springer |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4020-6638-2 |access-date=10 January 2008}}</ref> They settled law matters via mediators, and their banking system for loans and savings, called Isusu, is also still used.<ref>{{cite book |last=Njoku |first=Onwuka N. |year=2002 |title=Pre-colonial economic history of Nigeria |publisher=Ethiope Publishing Corporation, Benin City, Nigeria |isbn=978-978-2979-36-0}}</ref> The Igbo new year, starting with the month ''Ọ́nwạ́ M̀bụ́'' ({{Langx|ig|First Moon}}) occurs on the third week of February,<ref>{{cite book|title=An Igbo civilization: Nri kingdom & hegemony |first=M. Angulu |last=Onwuejeogwu |publisher=Ethnographica |year=1981 |isbn=978-978-123-105-6}}</ref> although the traditional start of the year for many Igbo communities is around springtime in ''Ọ́nwạ́ Ágwụ́'' (June).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Agwu deity in Igbo religion |first=Jude C. U. |last=Aguwa |publisher=Fourth Dimension Publishing Co., Ltd. |year=1995 |page=29 |isbn=978-978-156-399-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Jewish book of days: a companion for all seasons |first=Jill |last=Hammer |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |page=224 |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8276-0831-3}}</ref>

Used as a ceremonial script by secret societies, the Igbo have an indigenous [[ideogram|ideographic]] set of symbols called [[Nsibidi]], whose origin is now generally attributed to the neighboring [[Ekoi people|Ejagham]] people,<ref name="nsibidi">{{cite book |title=African Folklore: An Encyclopedia |last1=Carlson |first1=Amanda |chapter=Nsibidi: An Indigenous Writing System |editor-first1=Philip M. |editor-last1=Peek |editor-first2=Kwesi |editor-last2=Yankah |edition=illustrated |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=599 |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-415-93933-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOcWLGktIYoC |quote=Scholars believe that nsibidi originated among the Ejagham, who use it more extensively than any other group in the region. The spread of ''nsibidi'' may have been a result of Ejagham migrations or their practice of selling the secrets of the Ejagham men's Leopard Society (Ngbe) to their neighbors (the Igbo, Efik, Ibibio, Efut, Banyang, and others).}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Slogar |first1=Christopher |title=Early Ceramics from Calabar, Nigeria: Towards a History of Nsibidi |journal=African Arts |date=2007 |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=18–19 |doi=10.1162/afar.2007.40.1.18  |issn=0001-9933 |quote=''Nsibidi'' is generally thought to have originated among the Ejagham peoples of the northern Cross River region, in large part because colonial investigators found the greatest number and variety of signs among them.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Robert Farris |author-link1=Robert Farris Thompson |url=https://archive.org/details/flashofspiritafr00thom |title=Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy |date=1984 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |pages=227, 244 |isbn=978-0-394-72369-3 |quote=The Ejagham developed a unique form of ideographic writing, signs representing ideas and called ''nsibidi'', signs embodying many powers, including the essence of all that is valiant, just, and ordered&nbsp;... The late king of Oban in southern Ejagham told me in the summer of 1978 that ''nsibidi'' emerged in the dreams of certain men who thus received its secrets and later 'presented it outside'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nwosu |first1=Maik |title=In the Name of the Sign: The ''Nsibidi'' Script as the Language and Literature of the Crossroads |journal=Semiotica |date=2010 |issue=182 |page=286 |doi=10.1515/semi.2010.061 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/semi.2010.061/html |language=en |issn=1613-3692|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though in the 1900s J.&nbsp;K. Macgregor recorded a native tradition attributing it to the Uguakima or Uyanga section of the Igbo.<ref name="macgregor">{{Cite journal |last=Macgregor |first=J. K. |date=January–June 1909 |title=Some Notes on Nsibidi. |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449627 |journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute |publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=39 |page=211 |doi=10.2307/2843292 |jstor=2843292}}</ref>{{sfn|Nwosu|2010|p=301 (note&nbsp;2)}}

Igbo people produced bronzes from as early as the 9th century, some of which have been found at the town of [[Archaeology of Igbo-Ukwu|Igbo Ukwu]], [[Anambra State]].<ref name="igboukwu">{{cite web |last=Apley |first=Apley |title=Igbo-Ukwu (ca. 9th century) |date=October 2001 |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/igbo/hd_igbo.htm |access-date=23 November 2008 |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>

A system of [[indentured servitude]] existed among the Igbo before and after the encounter with Europeans.<ref name=africanhistory>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African History |first=Kevin |last=Shillington |publisher=CRC Press |year=2005 |page=674 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ftz_gtO-pngC&pg=PA674 |isbn=978-1-57958-245-6}}</ref><ref name=Olaudah1>{{cite book |title=The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |pages= 20–21 |publisher=I. Knapp |year=1837 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXVkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA20}}</ref> Indentured service in Igbo areas was described by [[Olaudah Equiano]] in [[The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano|his memoir]]. He describes the conditions of the slaves in his community of Essaka and points out the difference between the treatment of slaves under the Igbo in Essaka and those in the custody of Europeans in West Indies:

<blockquote>...but how different was their condition from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us, they do no more work than other members of the community,... even their master;... (except that they were not permitted to eat with those... free-born;) and there was scarce any other difference between them,... Some of these slaves have... slaves under them as their own property... for their own use.<ref name=Olaudah1 /></blockquote>

Prior to European contact, Igbo trade routes stretched as far as [[Mecca]], [[Medina]] and [[Jeddah]] on the African continent and the Middle East.<ref>{{cite book|title=McMaffirst=Misha |last=Glenny |publisher=Random House |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-09-948125-6 |page=200}}</ref>

=== Transatlantic slave trade and diaspora ===
{{Main|The Igbo in the Atlantic slave trade}}
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| caption1 = [[Bussa's Rebellion|Bussa]], [[Afro-Barbadian|Barbadian]] slave revolt leader of Igbo descent<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Critical Response to Kamau Brathwaite |first=Emily Allen |last=Williams |page=235 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-275-97957-7}}</ref>
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| caption2 = [[Edward Wilmot Blyden|Edward Blyden]], [[Americo-Liberian]] educator, writer and politician of Igbo descent<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587404/blyden_edward_wilmot.html |title=Edward Wilmot Blyden |encyclopedia=Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia |access-date=19 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031103742/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587404/Blyden_Edward_Wilmot.html |archive-date=31 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_2005148.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025073245/http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_2005148.shtml|archive-date=25 October 2005|title=Edward Wilmot Blyden:- Father of Pan Africanism (August 3, 1832 to February 7, 1912)|publisher=Awareness Times (Sierra Leone)|date=2 August 2006}}</ref>
| alt2 = Edward Wilmot Blyden
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| caption3 = [[Paul Robeson]], [[African American|American]] actor and writer whose father was of Igbo descent<ref>{{cite book |last=Robeson II |first=Paul |title=The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist's Journey, 1898–1939 |year=2001 |publisher=Wiley |url=https://archive.org/details/undiscoveredpaul00robe/page/3 |isbn=978-0-471-24265-9 |quote=A dark-skinned man descended from the Ibo tribe of Nigeria, Reverend Robeson was of medium height with broad shoulders, and had an air of surpassing dignity. |page=[https://archive.org/details/undiscoveredpaul00robe/page/3 3] |access-date=27 December 2008 }}</ref>
| alt3 = Paul Robeson
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| caption4 = [[Aimé Césaire]], [[Martinique|Martiniquais]] poet and politician who claimed Igbo descent<ref>{{cite periodical |last=Azuonye |first=Chukwuma |year=1990 |title=Igbo Names in the Nominal Roll of Amelié, An Early 19th Century Slave Ship from Martinique: Reconstructions, Interpretations and Inferences |periodical=Africana Studies Faculty Publication Series |number=8 |page=1 |url=http://scholarworks.umb.edu/africana_faculty_pubs/8/ |access-date=26 March 2015}}</ref>
| alt4 = Aimé Césaire
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Chambers (2002) argues that many of the slaves taken from the [[Bight of Biafra]] across the [[Middle Passage]] would have been Igbo.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chambers |first=D.B. |publisher=Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group |title=REJOINDER – The Significance of Igbo in the Bight of Biafra Slave |journal=Slavery & Abolition |volume=23 |pages=101–120 |doi=10.1080/714005225 |year=2002 |issue=1 |s2cid=146426893 }}
{{cite book |title=Territorial Disputes and Resource Management: A Global Handbook |first=Rongxing |last=Guo |publisher=Nova Publishers |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-60021-445-5 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5Le627xQLgC&pg=PA130}}</ref> These slaves were usually sold to Europeans by the [[Aro Confederacy]], who kidnapped or bought slaves from Igbo villages in the hinterland.<ref>{{cite book |title=Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia |first=Chambers B. |last=Douglas |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57806-706-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrPxWLSrp78C&pg=PA25 |page=25}}</ref> Igbo [[Slavery|slaves]] may have not been victims of slave-raiding wars or expeditions but perhaps debtors or Igbo people who committed within their communities alleged crimes.<ref>{{cite book|title=The physical anthropology of Southern Nigeria |last1=Talbot |first1=Percy Amaury |first2=H. |last2=Mulhall |page=5 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1962}}</ref> With the goal for freedom, enslaved Igbo people were known to European [[Planter class|planters]] as being rebellious outspoken and having a high rate of suicide to escape slavery.<ref>{{cite book|title=Trans-Atlantic Dimensions of Ethnicity in the African Diaspora |last=Lovejoy |first=Paul E. |isbn=978-0-8264-4907-8 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2003 |pages= 92–93}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Voices of the Poor in Africa |first=Elizabeth Allo |last=Isichei |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |year=2002 |page=81}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The River Flows on: Black Resistance, Culture, and Identity Formation in Early America |first=Walter C. |last=Rucker |isbn=978-0-8071-3109-1 |publisher=LSU Press |year=2006 |page=52}}</ref> There is evidence that traders sought Igbo women.<ref>{{cite book|title=Africanisms in American Culture |first=Joseph E. |last=Holloway |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |page=32 |isbn=978-0-253-21749-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmzTyI5rfDMC&pg=PA32 |access-date=19 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Writing African History |first=John Edward |last=Philips |page=412 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58046-164-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UeW6zHYT30C&pg=PA412}}</ref> 

It is alleged that European slave traders were fairly well informed about various African ethnicities, leading to slavers targeting certain ethnic groups that were less challenging to European dominance, which plantation owners preferred. These ethnic groups consequently became fairly concentrated in certain parts of the Americas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynow.org/03_2005/historian3.html |publisher=History Now |title=African Immigration to Colonial America |first=Ira |last=Berlin |quote=(paragraph 11) Preferences on both side of the Atlantic determined, to a considerable degree, which enslaved Africans went where and when, populating the mainland with unique combinations of African peoples and creating distinctive regional variations in the Americas. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919230942/http://www.historynow.org/03_2005/historian3.html |archive-date=19 September 2008 }}</ref> While those that were outspoken, like the Igbo people, were dispersed to colonies such as [[Jamaica]],<ref name="jamaicaigbo" /> [[Cuba]],<ref name="jamaicaigbo" /> [[Saint-Domingue]],<ref name="jamaicaigbo" /> [[Barbados]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Black Experience and the Empire |first=Philip D. |last=Morgan |author2=Sean Hawkins |isbn=978-0-19-926029-4 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kG824iVy1BsC&pg=PA82}}</ref> [[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]],<ref name="yorku">{{cite web |title=Ethnic Identity in the Diaspora and the Nigerian Hinterland |url=http://www.yorku.ca/nhp/areas/ethnic.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226062359/http://www.yorku.ca/nhp/areas/ethnic.htm |archive-date=2014-12-26 |access-date=23 November 2008 |publisher=York university |quote=As is now widely known, enslaved Africans were often concentrated in specific places in the diaspora...USA (Igbo) |location=Toronto, Canada}}</ref> [[Belize]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Africana |first=Anthony |last=Appiah |author2=Henry Louis Gates |isbn=978-0-465-00071-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi/page/212 212] |date=27 October 1999 |url=https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi/page/212 }}</ref> and [[Trinidad and Tobago]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Roots and Branches |first=Michael |last=Craton |isbn=978-0-08-025367-1 |publisher=University of Waterloo Dept. of History|page=125|year=1979 }}</ref> among others.

Elements of Igbo culture can still be found in these places. For example, in [[Jamaican Patois]], the Igbo word ''unu'', meaning "you" plural, is still used.<ref>{{cite book |title=Defining Creole |first=John H. |last=McWhorter |publisher=Oxford University Press US |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-516670-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdxJJVY54nYC&pg=PA217 |page=217 |access-date=10 January 2009}}</ref> "Red Ibo" (or "red eboe") describes a [[black people|black person]] with fair or "yellowish" skin. This term had originated from the  prevalence of these [[Human skin color|skin tones]] among the Igbo people, but eastern Nigerian influences may not be strictly Igbo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080113/focus/focus4.html |last=Robotham |first=Don |title=Jamaica and Africa (Part II) |publisher=[[Gleaner Company]] |date=13 January 2008 |quote=...It is not possible to declare that the Eastern Nigerian influence in Jamaica – apparent in expressions such as 'red ibo' – is Igbo. |access-date=23 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226220329/http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080113/focus/focus4.html |archive-date=26 December 2008 }}</ref> The word ''Bim'', a colloquial term for [[Barbados]], was commonly used among enslaved [[Barbadian people|Barbadians]] (Bajans). This word is said to have derived from ''bém'' in the Igbo language meaning 'my place or people', but may have other origins (see: [[Barbados#Etymology|Barbados etymology]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage |first=Richard |last=Allsopp |author2=Jeannette Allsopp |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmvSk13sIc0C&pg=PA101 |publisher=University of the West Indies Press |year=2003 |others=Contributor Richard Allsopp |isbn=978-976-640-145-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Carrington, Sean |title=A~Z of Barbados Heritage |year=2007 |publisher=Macmillan Caribbean Publishers Limited|page=25 |isbn=978-0-333-92068-8}}</ref> A section of [[Belize City]] was named ''Eboe Town'' after its Igbo inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book|title=British Honduras: an historical and descriptive account of the colony from its settlement, 1670 |url=https://archive.org/details/britishhondurash00gibbuoft |first=Archibald Robertson |last=Gibbs |publisher=S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington |year=1883 |quote=Eboe Town, a section of the town of Belize reserved for that African tribe, was destroyed by fire}}</ref>

In the United States, the Igbo were imported to the [[Chesapeake Colonies|Chesapeake Bay colonies]] and states of [[Maryland]] and [[Virginia]], where they constituted the largest group of Africans.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement |first1=David Hackett |last1=Fischer |first2=James C. |last2=Kelly |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8139-1774-0 |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GFa7KVPWmKwC&pg=PA62}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America |first=Frederick Douglass |last=Opie |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-231-14638-8 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lAl8f11qngC&pg=PA18}}</ref> Since the late 20th century, a wave of Nigerian immigrants, mostly English and Igbo-speaking, have settled in Maryland, attracted to its strong professional job market.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usefoundation.org/userdata/file/Research/languages_of_the_usa.pdf |title=List of languages – #25 along with Kru and Yoruba |publisher=U.S. English Foundation, Inc. |access-date=10 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220090800/http://www.usefoundation.org/userdata/file/Research/languages_of_the_usa.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2009 }}</ref> They were also imported to the southern borders of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[South Carolina]] considered the low country and where [[Gullah|Gulluh]] culture still preserves African traditions of its ancestors. Today, there is an area called [[Igbo Landing]], where a group of Igbo had tried to drown themselves, rather than become slaves, when they disembarked the slave ship.<ref>{{cite web |last=Momodu |first=Samuel |date=2016-10-25 |title=Igbo Landing Mass Suicide (1803) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/igbo-landing-mass-suicide-1803/ |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=BlackPast.org}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=September 2025}}

=== Colonial period ===
{{Main|Colonial Nigeria}}
The establishment of British colonial rule in present-day Nigeria and increased encounters between the Igbo and other ethnicities near the Niger River led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity. The Igbo proved decisive and enthusiastic in their embrace of Christianity and Western-style education.<ref>{{cite book |title=Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland, 1857–1914
|first=Felix K. |last=Ekechi |edition=illustrated |publisher=Routledge |year=1972 |page=146 |isbn=978-0-7146-2778-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNwgU_0wQukC&pg=PA146}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria, 1900–1960: 1900–1960 |first=Gloria |last=Chuku |edition= illustrated |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-415-97210-9 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3jouPZxPC4C&pg=PA145}}</ref> Because of the incompatibility of the Igbo decentralized style of government and the centralized system including the appointment of warrant chiefs required for British system of [[indirect rule]], the period [[Colonial Nigeria|colonial rule]] was marked with numerous conflicts and tension.<ref name=africanhistory /> During the colonial era, the diversity within each of Nigeria's major ethnic groups slowly decreased, and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups, such as the [[Hausa people|Hausa]] and the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], became sharper.<ref>{{cite book |year=1992 |title=Groundwork of Igbo history |author-link=Adiele Afigbo |last=Afigbo |first=A. E. |publisher=Vista Books |location=Lagos |isbn=978-978-134-400-8 | pages = 522–541}}</ref>

The establishment of British colonial rule transformed Igbo society, as portrayed in [[Chinua Achebe]]'s novel ''[[Things Fall Apart]]''. Colonial rule brought about changes in culture, such as the introduction of warrant chiefs as [[Eze]] (indigenous rulers) where there were no such monarchies.<ref>{{cite book|title=Power, Marginality and African Oral Literature |first=Graham |last=Furniss |author2=Elizabeth Gunner |author3=Liz Gunner |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-48061-1 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8ZDWbwIwdQC&pg=PA67}}</ref> Christian missionaries introduced aspects of European ideology into Igbo society and culture, sometimes shunning parts of the culture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Christianity and Ibo Culture |first=Edmund |last=Ilogu |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1974 |isbn=978-90-04-04021-2 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0uMUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA63}}</ref> The rumours that the Igbo women were being assessed for taxation sparked off the 1929 [[Women's War|Igbo Women's War]] in [[Aba, Abia|Aba]] (also known as the 1929 Aba Riots), a massive revolt of women never encountered before in Igbo history.<ref>{{cite book |title=Female Power and Male Dominance: On the Origins of Sexual Inequality |first=Peggy Reeves |last=Sanday |edition=illustrated, reprint |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-521-28075-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/femalepowermaled00sand/page/136 136] |url=https://archive.org/details/femalepowermaled00sand|url-access=registration }}</ref>

Aspects of Igbo culture such as construction of houses, education and religion changed following colonialism. The tradition of building houses out of mud walls and [[Thatching|thatched]] roofs ended as the people shifted to materials such as concrete blocks for houses and metal roofs. Roads for vehicles were built. Buildings such as hospitals and schools were erected in many parts of Igboland. Along with these changes, electricity and running water were installed in the early 20th century. With electricity, new technology such as radios and televisions were adopted, and have become commonplace in most Igbo households.<ref name=modern>{{cite book|title=Nigeria's Diverse Peoples |first=April A. |last=Gordon |page=87 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-57607-682-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H26pO3vwmHoC&pg=PA87 |access-date=19 December 2008}}</ref>

A series of black and white, silent films about the Igbo people made by [[George Basden]] in the 1920s and 1930s are held in the [[British Empire and Commonwealth Museum|British Empire and Commonwealth Collection]] at [[Bristol Archives]] (Ref. 2006/070).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://museums.bristol.gov.uk/details.php?irn=229315 |title=online catalogue |website=museums.bristol.gov.uk |access-date=12 July 2017 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003153437/http://museums.bristol.gov.uk/details.php?irn=229315 }}</ref>

=== Nigerian Civil War ===
[[File:Flag of Biafra.svg|thumb|right|[[Flag of Biafra|Flag]] of the Republic of [[Biafra]] (1967–1970)<ref name="stateless">{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K94wQ9MF2JsC&pg=PA762 |title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-313-32384-3 |page=762}}</ref>]]

A series of ethnic clashes between Northern [[Muslims]] and the Igbo, and other ethnic groups of Eastern Nigeria Region living in Northern Nigeria took place between 1966 and 1967. Elements in the army had assassinated the Nigerian military head of state General [[Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi]] on 29 July 1966,<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Survey of African Law |first=Neville |last=Rubin |publisher=Routledge, 1970 |isbn=978-0-7146-2601-7 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=orH4bpOCYSkC&pg=PA20|year=1970 }}</ref> and peace negotiations failed between the military government that deposed Ironsi and the regional government of [[Eastern Region, Nigeria|Eastern Nigeria]] at the [[Aburi]] Talks in Ghana in 1967.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Labour Governments 1964–1970: International Policy |first=Steven |last=Fielding |author2=John W. Young |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2003 |page=197 |isbn=978-0-7190-4365-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=21fItelgxnwC&pg=PA197}}</ref> These events led to a regional council of the peoples of Eastern Nigeria deciding that the region should secede and proclaim the Republic of Biafra on 30 May 1967.<ref name=biafradate>{{cite book |title=Nigeria: Current Issues and Historical Background |first=Martin P. |last=Mathews |publisher=Nova Publishers |page=38 |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-59033-316-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hTs6GpM4zDMC&pg=PA38}}</ref> General [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu|Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu]] made this declaration and became the head of state of the new republic.<ref>{{cite book |title=African Aims & Attitudes: Selected Documents |first=Martin |last=Minogue |author2=Judith Molloy |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1974 |page=393 |isbn=978-0-521-20426-2 |section=General C. O. Ojukwu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBk7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA393}}</ref>

The resultant war, which became known as the [[Nigerian Civil War]] or the Nigerian-Biafran War, lasted from 6 July 1967 until 15 January 1970, after which the federal government re-absorbed Biafra into Nigeria.<ref name="biafradate" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Memoirs of a Mbororo: The Life of Ndudi Umaru, Fulani Nomad of Cameroon |first=Henri |last=Bocquené |author2=Oumarou Ndoudi |author3=Gordeen Gorder |publisher=Berghahn Books |page=285 |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57181-844-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gY6_WbmfK0C&pg=PA285}}</ref> Several million Eastern Nigerians died from the [[pogrom]]s against them, such as the [[1966 anti-Igbo pogrom]] where between 10,000 and 30,000 Igbo people were killed.<ref name="Diamond-1967">{{cite journal|last1=Diamond|first1=Stanley|title=The Biafra Secession|journal=Africa Today|date=June 1967|volume=14|issue=3|pages=1–2|jstor=4184781}}</ref><ref name="Keil-1970">{{cite journal|last1=Keil|first1=Charles|title=The Price of Nigerian Victory|journal=Africa Today|date=January 1970|volume=17|issue=1|pages=1–3|jstor=4185054}}</ref> Many homes, schools, and hospitals were destroyed in the conflict. The federal government of Nigeria denied Igbo people access to their savings placed in Nigerian banks and provided them with little compensation. The war also led to a great deal of discrimination against the Igbo people at the hands of other ethnic groups.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/igbo/igbo2.htm|title=The Igbo, sometimes (especially formerly) referred to as Ibo, are one of the largest single ethnicities in Africa|website=www.faculty.ucr.edu|access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref>

In their struggle, the people of Biafra earned the respect of figures such as [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] and [[John Lennon]], who returned his [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]], partly in protest against British support for the Nigerian government in the Biafran War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/john-lennon |title=John Lennon |publisher=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum |year=2007 |quote=September 1, 1969: John Lennon returns his MBE. He says it is to protest the British government's involvement in Biafra, its support of the U.S. in Vietnam and the poor chart performance of his latest single, 'Cold Turkey'. | access-date= 24 November 2008}}</ref> [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu|Odumegwu-Ojukwu]], stated that the three years of freedom allowed his people to become the most civilized and most technologically advanced black people in the world.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> In July 2007, Odumegwu-Ojukwu renewed calls for the secession of the Biafran state as a sovereign entity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6276820.stm |title=Call for Biafra to leave Nigeria |publisher=BBC|access-date=23 November 2008 |date=6 July 2007}}</ref>

=== Since 1970 ===
Some Igbo subgroups, such as the [[Ikwerre people|Ikwerre]], started dissociating themselves from the larger Igbo population after the war.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Tri-Generational Study of Language Choice & Shift in Port Harcourt |first=Kelechukwu U. |last=Ihemere |page=26 |publisher=Universal-Publishers |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58112-958-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwk5IkralBAC&pg=PA26}}</ref> In the post-war era, Nigeria changed the names of places to non-Igbo-sounding words. For instance, the town of Igbo-uzo was anglicized to ''Ibusa''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Auxiliaries in Igbo Syntax: A Comparative Study |first=Nọlue |last=Emenanjọ |publisher=Indiana University Linguistics Club |year=1985 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuQtAAAAMAAJ&q=Igbuzo+ibusa}}</ref> Because of discrimination, many Igbo had trouble finding employment, and during the early 1970s, the Igbo became one of the poorest ethnic groups in Nigeria.<ref name="discrim">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8wmGpg9nf0C&q=igbo+discrimination+nigeria&pg=PA95|title=Human Rights in Commonwealth Africa|last=Howard-Hassmann|first=Rhoda E.| author-link = Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=1986|isbn=978-0-8476-7433-6|page=95|access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Nigeria in the Twenty-first Century: Strategies for Political Stability and Peaceful Coexistence |first=Emmanuel Ike |last=Udogu |page=51 |isbn=978-1-59221-320-7 |publisher=Africa World Press |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHE2lQn3u90C&q=igbo+discrimination&pg=PA51 |access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Troubled Journey: Nigeria Since the Civil War |first=Levi Akalazu |last=Nwachuku |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2004 |page=59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MvR4mE54QUC&q=igbo+discrimination+nigeria&pg=PA59 |isbn=978-0-7618-2712-2 |access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref>

However, since then, the Igbo people have rebuilt their cities by themselves without any support from the federal government of Nigeria. This led to the establishment of new factories, and industry in south-eastern Nigeria, making the Igbo people some of the wealthiest ethnic groups in Nigeria. Many Igbo people eventually took government positions,<ref>{{cite book|year=1992 |title=Groundwork of Igbo history |publisher=Vista Books, Lagos |isbn=978-978-134-400-8|pages= 161–177}}</ref> although many were engaged in private business.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Politics of Memory: Truth, Healing and Social Justice |first=Ifi |last=Amadiume |publisher=Zed Books |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-85649-843-2 |pages= 104–106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fe9dD5kIY0MC&pg=PA104}}</ref> Since the early 21st century, there has been a wave of Nigerian migration to other African countries, Europe, and the Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~landc/fulltext/LandC_34_2_Odi.pdf |title=Igbo in Diaspora: The Binding Force of Information |first=Amusi |last=Odi |publisher=University of Texas |access-date=23 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725203837/http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~landc/fulltext/LandC_34_2_Odi.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2011 }}</ref>

== Culture ==
{{main|Igbo culture}}

=== Traditional Igbo architecture and designs ===
{{Main|Igbo architecture}}
[[File:Ekpe (leopard society) meeting house.jpg|thumb|[[Ekpe]] (leopard society) meeting house.]]

[[File:Traditional Igbo high building house.png|thumb|upright=1.15|An "Ógwa", an ancestral meeting and reception shrine hall of household patriarchs photographed by P. Talbot]]
Traditional Igbo architecture predominantly uses locally sourced materials such as mud, clay, wood, bamboo, thatch, and palm fronds.<ref name="eneorji">{{Cite journal |last=Ene-Orji |first=Chinedu |date=2022 |title=Traditional Igbo Architecture: A Symbolic Evaluation |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/6/article/855122 |journal=African Arts |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=66–81 |doi=10.1162/afar_a_00657 |issn=1937-2108}}</ref> These materials are abundant and well-suited to the local climate. The traditional Igbo dwelling is often organized within a compound, which includes several houses for extended family members arranged around a central courtyard.<ref name="eneorji"/> The courtyard serves as a communal space for gatherings and interactions. 
Igbo architecture is modular, with structures being added or expanded as family needs grow.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aniakor |first=Chike C. |date=Fourth Quarter 1978 |title=House Types and Decorations in Southern Nigeria |journal=Présence Africaine |issue=108 |pages=19–37 |doi=10.3917/presa.108.0019 |jstor=24349966 |issn=0032-7638}}</ref> This flexibility allows for adaptability over time. Most traditional Igbo houses feature steeply pitched thatched roofs made from palm fronds or grass.<ref name="eneorji"/>

Verandas and raised platforms are common features, offering shaded outdoor spaces for relaxation, socializing, and various activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ancestral House (Iba) in Onitsha, 1960–61 |url=https://amightytree.org/ancestral-house-iba/ |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=A Mighty Tree |language=en-US}}</ref> Many Igbo houses incorporate sacred spaces, such as shrines or altars, for religious practices, ancestor veneration, and community rituals.<ref name="eneorji"/> Igbo architecture takes into account the region's climate and natural surroundings, using design elements that promote comfort and harmony with the environment. In some Igbo communities, wooden communication towers called "[[ogene]]" or "[[Isokwe|isiokwe]]" are erected for signaling and communication during events or gatherings. Towers were common, in Igbo architecture, which disproves the popular western myth that Africans didn't have multi-story buildings prior to Colonization.<ref>Elleh Nnamdi. ''African Architecture: Evolution and Transformation.'' McGraw-Hill; 1997. {{ISBN|0-07-021506-5}}</ref>

[[File:Nsude pyramids.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Step pyramid|Nsude Pyramids]] in [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]]]]
One of the unique structures of Igbo culture were the [[Nsude pyramids]], which was a form of [[step pyramid]] built at the town of [[Udi, Enugu|Nsude]], in modern-day [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]], northern [[Igboland]]. Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay and mud. The first base section was {{Convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on}} in circumference and {{Convert|3|ft|m|abbr=on}} in height. The next stack was {{Convert|45|ft|m|abbr=on}} in circumference. Circular stacks continued, until it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala/Uto, who was believed to reside at the top. A stick was placed at the top to represent the god's residence. The structures were laid in groups of five parallel to each other. Because it was built of clay/mud, time has taken its toll requiring periodic reconstruction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Basden |first=G. T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bN-ZnG5JuIC |title=Among the Ibos of Nigeria 1912 |date=1966 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7146-1633-9 |page=109 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:RAAI 645.3 (2).jpg|thumb|A scene in an [[Mbari (art)|Mbari]] house c. 1904|upright=1.15]]
Igbo art is noted for [[Mbari (art)|Mbari]] architecture.<ref name="reading">{{cite book |last=Gikandi |first=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhUDHjeFeTQC&pg=PA52 |title=Reading Chinua Achebe: Language & Ideology in Fiction |publisher=James Currey Publishers |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-85255-527-9 |page=52 |access-date=19 December 2008}}</ref> Mbari houses of the [[Owerri]]-Igbo are large opened-sided square planned shelters. They house many life-sized, painted figures (sculpted in mud to appease the [[Alusi]] (deity) and [[Ala (odinani)|Ala]], the [[earth goddess]], with other deities of thunder and water).<ref name="Architecture">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=African architecture |publisher=[[Britannica Online]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/African-architecture |access-date=23 November 2008 |last=Oliver |first=Paul |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250722030908/https://www.britannica.com/art/African-architecture |archive-date=2025-07-22}}</ref> Other sculptures are of officials, craftsmen, foreigners (mainly Europeans), animals, legendary creatures and ancestors.<ref name="Architecture" /> Mbari houses take years to build in what is regarded as a sacred process. When new ones are constructed, old ones are left to decay.<ref name="Architecture" /> Everyday houses were made of mud with thatched roofs and bare earth floors with carved design doors. Some houses had elaborate designs both in the interior and exterior. These designs could include [[Uli (design)|Uli art]] designed by Igbo women.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Poetics of Line |url=http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/uli.htm |access-date=19 December 2008 |website=National Museum of African Art |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |archive-date=22 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122112626/http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/uli.htm }}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Examples of Igbo architecture
|align=center
|File:Igbo Architecture Exterior.png|Exterior of Igbo building
|File:Igbo PreColonial Architecture by Northcote Thomas and assistants, c. 1912.png|A building photographed in the western Igbo area (filed under [[Onicha Olona]] by the MAA Cambridge, but possibly from another nearby Igbo town)
|File:An Igbo compound entrance, in or near Önïcha. Photographed by Herbert Wimberley, c. 1903-18. Cambridge University Library.jpg|An Igbo compound entrance, in or near [[Onitsha|Önïcha]]. Photographed by [[Herbert Wimberley]], c. 1903
|File:Igbo Pre-Colonial Architecture, House & Tower Behind.png|Igbo house with tower in the background
|File:A decorated wall (of a house?) at Ila (Illah), in the western Igbo area, photographed by British colonial government anthropologist Northcote Thomas, October-November 1912. MAA, Cambridge.jpg|Exterior of Igbo building – art and design
|File:Okoli ijeoma ada war tower.png|"Okoli Ijeoma Ada" war tower
|File:Awka watch tower 1909.png|[[Awka]] watch tower
|File:Three nsude pyramids.jpg|Three [[Step pyramid|Nsude pyramids]] in [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]]
}}

===Language and literature===
{{Further|Igbo literature|Igbo language}}
[[File:Things Fall Apart books 02.jpg|thumb|''[[Things Fall Apart]]'' by [[Chinua Achebe]] is the most popular and renowned novel that deals with the Igbo and their traditional life.]]
The [[Igbo language]] was used by [[John Goldsmith (linguist)|John Goldsmith]] as an example to justify deviating from the classical linear model of [[phonology]] as laid out in ''[[The Sound Pattern of English]]''. It is written in the [[Latin script|Roman script]] as well as the [[Nsibidi]] formalized ideograms, which is used by the [[Ekpe]] society and Okonko fraternity but is no longer widely used.<ref name="si-nsibidi">{{cite web |title=Nsibidi |url=http://www.nmafa.si.edu/exhibits/inscribing/nsibidi.html |access-date=25 February 2010 |website=National Museum of African Art |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |quote=Nsibidi is an ancient system of graphic communication indigenous to the Ejagham peoples of southeastern Nigeria and the southwestern Cameroon in the Cross River region. It is also used by neighboring Ibibio, Efik and Igbo peoples.}}</ref>

Nsibidi ideography existed among the Igbo before the 16th century but died out after it became popular among secret societies, who made Nsibidi a secret form of communication.<ref>{{cite book |last=Oraka |first=L. N. |title=The foundations of Igbo studies |publisher=University Publishing Co. |year=1983 |isbn=978-978-160-264-1 |pages=17, 13}}</ref> Igbo language is difficult because of the huge number of dialects, its richness in prefixes and suffixes and its heavy intonation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=igboenglish |url=http://www.igboenglish.com/ |access-date=8 December 2015 |website=igboenglish}}</ref> Igbo is a [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal language]], and there are hundreds of different Igbo dialects and Igboid languages, such as the [[Ikwerre language|Ikwerre]] and [[Ekpeye language|Ekpeye]] languages.<ref name="dialect" /> In 1939, Dr. [[Ida C. Ward]] led a research expedition on Igbo dialects which could possibly be used as a basis of a standard Igbo dialect, also known as ''Central Igbo''. This dialect included that of the [[Owerri]] and [[Umuahia]] groups, including the [[Ohuhu people|Ohuhu]] dialect. This proposed dialect was gradually accepted by missionaries, writers, publishers, and [[Cambridge University]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Oraka |first=L. N. |title=The foundations of Igbo studies |publisher=University Publishing Co. |year=1983 |isbn=978-978-160-264-1 |page=35}}</ref>

In 1789, ''[[The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano]]'' was published in London, England, written by [[Olaudah Equiano]], a former slave. The book features 79 Igbo words.<ref name="Oraka21">{{cite book |last=Oraka |first=L. N. |title=The foundations of Igbo studies |publisher=University Publishing Co. |year=1983 |isbn=978-978-160-264-1 |page=21}}</ref> In the first and second chapter, the book illustrates various aspects of Igbo life based on Olaudah Equiano's life in his hometown of Essaka.<ref>{{cite book |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXVkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA9 |title=The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano |publisher=I. Knapp |year=1789 |isbn=978-1-4250-4524-1 |page=9}}</ref> Although the book was one of the first books published to include Igbo material, ''Geschichte der [[Moravian Church|Mission der evangelischen Brüder]] auf den caraibischen Inseln [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]], [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Croix]] und [[St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands|S. Jan]]'' ({{Langx|de|History of the Evangelical Brothers' Mission in the Caribbean Islands St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John}}),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oldendorp |first1=Christian Georg Andreas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyVBAAAAcAAJ |title=Geschichte der Mission der evangelischen Brüder auf den caraibischen Inseln ... – Christian Georg Andreas Oldendorp, Johann Jakob Bossart – Google Boeken |year=1777 |access-date=25 August 2013}}</ref> published in 1777, written by the German missionary C. G. A. Oldendorp, was the first book to publish any Igbo material.<ref name="Oraka21" />

Perhaps the most popular and renowned novel that deals with the Igbo and their traditional life was the 1959 book by Chinua Achebe, ''[[Things Fall Apart]]''. The novel concerns the influence of British colonial rule and Christian missionaries on a traditional Igbo community during an unspecified time in the late nineteenth or early 20th century. Most of the novel is set in Iguedo, one of nine villages on the lower Niger.<ref>{{cite book |last=Achebe |first=Chinua |url=https://archive.org/details/thingsfallapart00ache_ldx/page/11 |title=Things fall apart |publisher=Anchor |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-385-47454-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/thingsfallapart00ache_ldx/page/11 11] |author-link=Chinua Achebe}}</ref>

=== Performing arts ===
{{further|Igbo music}}

The Igbo people have a musical style into which they incorporate various percussion instruments: the [[udu]], which is essentially designed from a clay jug; an [[ekwe]], which is formed from a hollowed log; and the [[ogene]], a hand bell designed from forged iron. Other instruments include opi, a wind instrument similar to the flute, [[igba]], and ichaka.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grove |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5IYAAAAIAAJ |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |author2=Stanley Sadie |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-333-23111-1 |edition=6 |page=239}}</ref> Another popular musical form among the Igbo is [[highlife]]. A widely popular musical genre in [[West Africa]], highlife is a fusion of [[jazz]] and traditional music. The modern [[Igbo highlife]] is seen in the works of [[Dr Sir Warrior]], [[Oliver De Coque]], [[Bright Chimezie]] and [[Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe|Chief Osita Osadebe]], who were among the most popular Igbo highlife musicians of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Falola |first=Toyin |url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00falo/page/174 |title=Culture and Customs of Nigeria |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-313-31338-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00falo/page/174 174–183]}}</ref>

[[Masquerade ceremony|Masking]] is one of the most common art styles in Igboland and is linked strongly with Igbo traditional music. A mask can be made of wood or fabric, along with other materials including iron and vegetation.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=African art |encyclopedia=[[Britannica Online]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art |access-date=23 November 2008 |last=Picton |first=John |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250808181901/https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art |archive-date=2025-08-08}}</ref> Masks have a variety of uses, mainly in social satires, religious rituals, secret society initiations (such as the Ekpe society) and public festivals, which now include Christmas time celebrations.<ref name="christmas">{{cite book |last=Eltis |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kuXEzQZQmawC&pg=PA87 |title=Routes to Slavery: Direction, Ethnicity, and Mortality in the Transatlantic Slave Trade |author2=David Richardson |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7146-4820-0 |page=87 |access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref> Some of the best known include the [[Agbogho Mmuo]] ({{Langx|ig|Maiden spirit}}) masks of the northern Igbo which represent the spirits of deceased maidens and their mothers with masks symbolizing beauty.<ref name="britannica" /> Other impressive masks include northern Igbo [[Ijele Masquerade|Ijele]] masks. At {{convert|12|ft|m}} high, Ijele masks consist of platforms {{convert|6|ft|m}} in diameter,<ref name="britannica" /> supporting figures made of coloured cloth and representing everyday scenes with objects such as leopards. Ijele masks are used for honoring the dead to ensure the continuity and well-being of the community and are only seen on rare occasions such as the death of a prominent figure in the community.<ref name="britannica" />

There are many Igbo dance styles, but perhaps, Igbo dance is best known for its [[atilogwu]] dance troops. These performances include acrobatic stunts such as high kicks and [[Cartwheel (gymnastics)|cartwheels]], with each rhythm from the indigenous instruments indicating a movement to the dancer.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=African dance |encyclopedia=[[Britannica Online]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/African-dance |access-date=12 January 2009 |last=Harper |first=Peggy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250804083802/https://www.britannica.com/art/African-dance |archive-date=2025-08-04}}</ref> The [[Egedege Dance]] is an Igbo traditional Royal-styled cultural dance of South Eastern Nigeria.<ref>{{cite web |title=Egedege Dance Of Unubi |url=http://www.nacd.gov.ng/Anambra_state_new_yam_festival.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032258/http://www.nacd.gov.ng/Anambra_state_new_yam_festival.htm |archive-date=5 March 2016 |website=Nigerian Arts and Culture Directory}}</ref>

=== Religion and rites of passage ===
{{See also|Religion in Nigeria}}
[[File:Statuette masculine ikenga, Nigeria, Musée du quai Branly.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Wooden sculpture of [[Ikenga]], an [[Alusi]], in the [[Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac|Musée du Quai Branly]]]]
The Igbo traditional religion is known as [[Odinani]].<ref name="isichei246" /> 
The supreme deity is called [[Chukwu]] ("great spirit"); Chukwu created the world and everything in it and is associated with all things in the universe. They believe the [[cosmos]] is divided into four complex parts: creation, known as Okike; supernatural forces or deities called [[Alusi]]; [[Odinani#Spirits|Mmuo]], which are gods/spirits; and Uwa, the earthly world.<ref>{{cite book |last=Onwuejeogwu |first=M. Angulu |title=The Social Anthropology of Africa: An Introduction |publisher=Heinemann |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-435-89701-7 |edition=illustrated |page=179}}</ref>

[[Chukwu]] is the supreme deity in Odinani and considered the creator deity, and the Igbo people believe that all things ultimately came from him,<ref>{{cite book |last=Basden |first=G.T. |title=Among the Ibos of Nigeria |author2=John Ralph Willis |publisher=Seeley, Service |year=1912 |page=216}}</ref> and that everything on earth, [[heaven]] and the rest of the spiritual world is under his supervision.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elechi |first=O. Oko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIqKJX0BUx4C&pg=PA32 |title=Doing Justice Without the State: The Afikpo (Ehugbo) Nigeria Model |publisher=CRC Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-97729-6 |page=32}}</ref> Linguistic studies of the Igbo language suggest that the name ''Chukwu'' is a compound of the Igbo words ''Chi'' (spiritual being) and ''Ukwu'' (great in size).<ref>{{cite book |last=Sucher |first=Sandra J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y1i5Y54iyIC&pg=PA63 |title=The Moral Leader: Challenges, Tools and Insights |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-40064-0 |page=63}}</ref> Each individual is born with a spiritual guide/guardian angel or guardian principle, "Chi", unique to each individual and the individual's fate and destiny is determined by their Chi. Thus, the Igbos say that the siblings may come of the same mother, but no two people have the same Chi and thus different destinies for all. [[Alusi]], alternatively known as Arusi or Arushi (depending on dialect), are minor [[deity|deities]] that are worshiped and served in Odinani. There are many different Alusi, each with its own purpose. When an individual deity is no longer needed, or becomes too violent, it is discarded.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kirch |first=Patrick Vinton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qv48AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA71 |title=Island Societies: Archaeological Approaches to Evolution and Transformation |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-521-30189-3 |edition=illustrated |page=71}}</ref>

The Igbo have traditionally believed in the possibility for [[reincarnation]] of individuals within the family. People are believed to be able to reincarnate into families that they were part of while alive. Before a relative dies, it is said that the soon to be deceased relative sometimes give clues of who they will reincarnate as in the family. Once a child is born, he or she is believed to give signs of who they have reincarnated from. This can be through behavior, physical traits and statements by the child. A diviner can help in detecting who the child has reincarnated from. It is considered an insult if a male is said to have reincarnated as a female.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newell |first=William Hare |title=Ancestors |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1976 |isbn=978-90-279-7859-2 |pages=293–294 |chapter=Ancestoride! Are African Ancestors Dead? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjpDp5ckvv8C&pg=PA293}}</ref>

Children are not allowed to call elders by their names without using an [[honorific]] (as this is considered disrespectful). As a sign of respect, children are required to greet elders when seeing them for the first time in the day. Children usually add the Igbo honorifics ''Mazi'' or ''Dede'' before an elder's name when addressing them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Oluikpe |first=Benson Omenihu A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d4QOAAAAYAAJ |title=Igbo Transformational Syntax: The Ngwa Dialect Example |publisher=Africana Publishers |year=1979 |page=182}}</ref><ref name="Njoku">{{cite book |last=Njoku |first=John E. Eberegbulam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2yBAAAAMAAJ&q=Dede |title=The Igbos of Nigeria: Ancient Rites, Changes, and Survival |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-88946-173-4 |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |page=28}}</ref>

==== Christianity ====
Christianity was introduced to the Igbo people through European colonization in 1857. The Igbo people were hesitant to convert to Christianity initially because they believed the gods of their native religion would bring disaster to them. However, Christianity gradually gained converts in Igbo land, mainly through the work of church agents. These men built schools and focused on persuading the youth to adopt Christian values.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Okeke |first1=Chukwuma O. |last2=Ibenwa |first2=Christopher N. |last3=Okeke |first3=Gloria Tochukwu |date=1 April 2017 |title=Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Eastern Nigeria: The Igbo Example |journal=SAGE Open |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |article-number=2158244017709322 |doi=10.1177/2158244017709322 |issn=2158-2440 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Igbo people today are known as the ethnic group that has adopted Christianity the most in all of Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ekwueme |first=Lazarus Nnanyelu |date=1973 |title=African Music in Christian Liturgy: The Igbo Experiment |url=http://journal.ru.ac.za/index.php/africanmusic/article/download/1655/771 |journal=African Music |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=12–33 |doi=10.21504/amj.v5i3.1655 |issn=0065-4019 |jstor=30249968 |doi-access=free|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:Art at Ime-Obi Ezechima wall,Onitsha 2.jpg|thumb|The Holy Ghost depicted as a dove on a relief in [[Onitsha]]]]
The Igbo people were unaffected by the Islamic jihad waged in Nigeria in the 19th century, but a small minority converted to Islam in the 20th century.<ref name="UCHENDU 63–87">{{cite journal |last=Uchendu |first=Egodi |date=1 January 2010 |title=Being Igbo and Muslim: The Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria and Conversions to Islam, 1930s to Recent Times |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=63–87 |doi=10.1017/s0021853709990764 |jstor=40985002 |s2cid=162414965}}</ref> There is also a small population of [[Igbo Jews]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Bruder |first=Edith |title=The Black Jews of Africa: History, Religion, Identity |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-533356-5 |page=143}}</ref> some of whom merely identify as Jews, while others have converted to Judaism. These draw their inspiration from [[Olaudah Equiano]], a Christian-educated freed slave who remarked in his autobiography of 1789 on "the strong analogy which... appears to prevail in the manners and customs of my countrymen and those of the Jews, before they reached the Land of Promise, and particularly the patriarchs while they were yet in that pastoral state which is described in Genesis—an analogy, which alone would induce me to think that the one people had sprung from the other."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |url=http://archive.org/details/interestingnarra0000equi_r5y0 |title=The interesting narrative and other writings |date=2003 |publisher=New York : Penguin Books |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-14-243716-2}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=43}}

==== Burials ====
After a death, the body of a prominent member of society is placed on a stool in a sitting posture and is clothed in the deceased's finest garments. Animal sacrifices may be offered, and the dead person is well perfumed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXVkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA24 |title=The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano |publisher=I. Knapp |year=1837 |page=24}}</ref> Burial usually follows within 24 hours of death. In the 21st century, the head of a home is usually buried within the compound of his residence.<ref name="Njoku" /> Different types of deaths warrant different types of burials. This is determined by an individual's age, gender and status in society. Children are buried in hiding and out of sight; their burials usually take place in the early mornings and late nights. A simple untitled man is buried in front of his house and a simple mother is buried in her place of origin: in a garden or a farm-area that belonged to her father.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chigere |first=Nkem Hyginus M. V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAY8aQz4ztEC&pg=PA97 |title=Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Igboland |publisher=LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-8258-4964-1 |page=97 |access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref> In the 21st century, a majority of the Igbo bury their dead in the western way, although it is not uncommon for burials to be practiced in the traditional Igbo ways.<ref>{{cite book |last=Agbasiere |first=Joseph Thérèse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdOhY8HqTREC&pg=PA143 |title=Women in Igbo Life and Thought |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-22703-2 |page=143 |access-date=19 December 2008}}</ref>

==== Marriage ====
The process of marrying usually involves asking the young woman's consent, introducing the woman to the man's family and the same for the man to the woman's family, testing the bride's character, checking the woman's family background, and paying the brides' wealth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Agbasiere |first=Joseph Thérèse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWONlZ-OsiUC&pg=PA114 |title=Women in Igbo Life and Thought |author2=Shirley Ardener |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-22703-2 |page=114 |access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref> Typically speaking, bride wealth is more symbolic. Nonetheless, [[kola nut]]s, wine, goats, and chickens, among other things, are listed in the proposal, as well. Negotiating the bride wealth can also take more than one day, giving both parties time for a ceremonial feast.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Widjaja |first=Michael |title=igboguide.org |url=https://www.igboguide.org/ |access-date=17 April 2019 |website=igboguide.org |language=en}}</ref> Marriages were sometimes arranged from birth through negotiation of the two families.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ritzer |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yu-sX3qBh9YC&pg=PA248 |title=Handbook of Social Problems: A Comparative International Perspective |publisher=SAGE |others=Contributor George Ritzer |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7619-2610-8 |page=248 |access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref> However, after a series of interviews conducted in the 1990s with 250 Igbo women, it was found that 94.4% of that sample population disapproved of arranged marriages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=OKONJO |first=KAMENE |date=1992 |title=Aspects of Continuity and Change in Mate-Selection Among the Igbo West of the River Niger |journal=Journal of Comparative Family Studies |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=339–360 |doi=10.3138/jcfs.23.3.339 |issn=0047-2328 |jstor=41602232}}</ref>

[[File:Igbo Traditional wedding ceremony.jpg|thumb|A traditional Igbo wedding ceremony]]
[[File:Traditional Wedding Nnewi.jpg|thumb|A modern Igbo wedding in [[Nnewi]], Nigeria]]

In the past, many Igbo men practiced [[polygamy]]. The polygamous family is made up of a man and his wives and all their children.<ref name="Njoku" /> Men sometimes married multiple wives for economic reasons so as to have more people in the family, including children, to help on farms.<ref>{{cite book |last=Uchendu |first=Patrick Kenechukwu |title=Education and the Changing Economic Role of Nigerian Women |date=1995 |publisher=Fourth Dimension Publishing |isbn=978-978-156-403-1 |page=114 |quote=Formerly, there were many polygamous marriages because of the need for many hands to work in the farm.}}</ref> Christian and civil marriages have changed the Igbo family since colonization. Igbo people now tend to enter [[Monogamy|monogamous]] [[courtship]]s and create [[nuclear family|nuclear families]], mainly because of Western influence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Okeke-Ihejirika |first=Philomina Ezeagbor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqr2EmM0m7cC&pg=PA34 |title=Negotiating Power and Privilege: Igbo Career Women in Contemporary Nigeria |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-89680-241-4 |page=34 |access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref> Some Western marriage customs, such as weddings in a [[Christian Church|church]], take place either before or after the lgbo cultural traditional marriage.<ref>{{cite book |last=Oheneba-Sakyi |first=Yaw |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAgeKycuXMoC&pg=PA161 |title=African families at the turn of the 21st century |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-275-97274-5 |page=161}}</ref>

=== Attire ===
Traditionally, the attire of the Igbo generally consisted of little clothing, as the purpose of clothing originally was simply to conceal private parts. Because of this purpose, children were often nude from birth until the beginning of their adolescence—the time they were considered to have something to hide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Igbo Traditional Attire |url=http://thevoicesa.com/our-article/the-igbo-traditional-attire |access-date=20 April 2019 |website=The Nigerian Voice |first1=Jerry |last1=Emeka |date=3 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405003128/http://thevoicesa.com/our-article/the-igbo-traditional-attire |archive-date=5 April 2018}}</ref> Uli body art was used to decorate both men and women in the form of lines forming patterns and shapes on the body.<ref name="clothing2">{{cite book |last=Chuku |first=Gloria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3jouPZxPC4C&pg=PA135 |title=Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria, 1900–1960: 1900–1960 |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-415-97210-9 |page=135 |access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Igbo hat and Isiagu.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Men wearing contemporary [[Isiagu]] with the ceremonial Igbo men's hat ''okpu agu'']]

Women traditionally carry their babies on their backs with a strip of clothing binding the two with a knot at her chest, a practice used by many ethnic groups across Africa.<ref name="clothing">{{cite book |last=Masquelier |first=Adeline Marie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV9C2AjtFfsC&pg=PA38 |title=Dirt, Undress, and Difference: Critical Perspectives on the Body's Surface |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-253-34628-5 |pages=38–45 |access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref> This method has been modernized in the form of the [[Baby transport|child carrier]]. Maidens usually wore a short wrapper with beads around their waist and other ornaments such as necklaces and beads.<ref name="clothing" /> Both men and women wore wrappers.<ref name="clothing2" /><ref name="clothing" /> Men would wear [[loincloth]]s that wrapped round their waist and between their legs to be fastened at their back, the type of clothing appropriate for the intense heat as well as jobs such as farming.<ref name="clothing2" /><ref name="clothing" />

In [[The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano|Olaudah Equiano's narrative]], [[Olaudah Equiano|Equiano]] describes fragrances that were used by the Igbo in the community of [[Essakane|Essaka]]:

<blockquote>Our principal luxury is in perfumes; one sort of these is an odoriferous wood of delicious fragrance: the other a kind of earth; a small portion of which thrown into the fire diffuses a most powerful odor. We beat this wood into powder, and mix it with [[palm oil]]; with which both men and women perfume themselves.

:— [[Olaudah Equiano]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Equiano |first=Olaudah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXVkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA14 |title=The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano |publisher=I. Knapp |year=1837 |page=14}}</ref></blockquote>

As colonialism became more influential, the Igbo adapted their dress customs.<ref name="clothing3">{{cite web |last=Ukwu |first=Dele C. |title=Igbo People: Clothing & Cosmetic Makeup at the Time of Things Fall Apart |url=http://culture.chiamaka.com/igboclothing.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923222600/http://culture.chiamaka.com/igboclothing.html |archive-date=23 September 2008 |access-date=23 November 2008}}</ref> Clothing worn before colonialism became "traditional" and worn on cultural occasions. Modern Igbo traditional attire, for men, is generally made up of the [[Isiagu]] top, which resembles the [[Dashiki]] worn by other African groups. Isiagu (or ''ishi agu'') is usually patterned with lions' heads embroidered over the clothing and can be a plain colour.<ref>{{cite book |last=Isichei |first=Elizabeth Allo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bwh1AAAAMAAJ |title=Igbo Worlds: An Anthology of Oral Histories and Historical Descriptions |date=1977 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-19836-0 |page=113 |access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref> It is worn with trousers and can be worn with either a ceremonial title holders hat or with the conventional [[:File:Little world, Aichi prefecture - African plaza - Hat of a vassal - Ìgbo people in Nigeria - Collected in 2006.jpg|striped men's hat]] known as ''okpu'' a''gu''.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCall |first=John Christensen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHTE0UWRdLQC&pg=PA53 |title=Dancing histories: heuristic ethnography with the Ohafia Igbo |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-472-11070-4 |page=53}}</ref> For women, a puffed sleeve [[blouse]] along with two wrappers and a head tie are worn.<ref name="clothing" /><ref name="clothing3" />

=== Cuisine ===
[[File:Yam pottage.jpg|thumb|Yam porridge (or yam pottage) is an Igbo dish known as ''awaị''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Emenanjọ |first=E. Nọlue |title=Elements of modern Igbo grammar: a descriptive approach |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1978 |isbn=978-978-154-078-3 |page=42}}</ref>]]
{{Main|Igbo cuisine}}

The [[Yam (vegetable)|yam]] is very important to the Igbo as the [[Staple food|staple crop]]. It is known for its resiliency (a yam can remain fully edible for six months without refrigeration), but it can also be very versatile in terms of its incorporation into different dishes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BBC |title=Yam and the Igbos |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2008/08/01/yam_and_the_igbos_feature.shtml |access-date=20 April 2019 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref> Yams can be fried, roasted, boiled, or made into a potage with [[tomato]]es and herbs. The cultivation of yams is most commonly carried out by men, as women tend to focus on other crops.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Igbo {{!}} people |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Igbo |access-date=21 April 2019 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

There are celebrations such as the [[New Yam Festival of the Igbo|New Yam festival]] ({{langx|ig|Iwaji}}) which are held for the harvesting of the yam.<ref name="yam">{{cite web |last=Agwu |first=Kene |title=Yam and the Igbos |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2008/08/01/yam_and_the_igbos_feature.shtml |access-date=24 November 2008 |publisher=BBC Birmingham}}</ref> During the festival, yam is eaten throughout the communities as celebration. Yam tubers are shown off by individuals as a sign of success and wealth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Glasgow |first=Jacqueline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YMMsGbVGisC&pg=PA335 |title=Exploring African Life and Literature: Novel Guides to Promote Socially Responsive Learning |author2=Linda J. Rice |publisher=International Reading Assoc |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-87207-609-9 |page=335 |access-date=10 January 2009}}</ref> Rice has replaced yam for many ceremonial occasions. Other indigenous foods include cassava, [[garri]], maize and plantains. Soups or stews are included in a typical meal, prepared with a [[vegetable]] (such as [[okra]], of which the word derives from the Igbo language, ''okwuru'')<ref>{{cite book |last=McWhorter |first=John H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czFufZI4Zx4C&pg=PA77 |title=The Missing Spanish Creoles: Recovering the Birth of Plantation Contact Languages |publisher=University of California Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-520-21999-1 |page=77 |access-date=29 November 2008}}</ref> to which pieces of fish, chicken, beef, or goat meat are added. [[Jollof rice]] is popular throughout [[West Africa]], and [[palm wine]] is a popular alcoholic traditional beverage.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Halloran |first=Kate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNR8vF3iwg4C&pg=PA63 |title=Hands-on Culture of West Africa |publisher=Walch Publishing |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8251-3087-8 |page=63}}</ref>

== Political organization ==
The 1930s saw the rise of Igbo unions in the cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt. Later, the Ibo Federal Union (renamed the Ibo State Union in 1948) emerged as an umbrella [[Panethnicity|pan-ethnic]] organization. Headed by [[Nnamdi Azikiwe]], it was closely associated with the [[National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons]], which he co-founded with [[Herbert Macaulay]]. The aim of the organization was the improvement and advancement (such as in education) of the Igbo and their indigenous land and included an Igbo "national anthem" with a plan for an Igbo bank.<ref>{{cite book |title=Breakdown and reconstitution: democracy, the nation-state, and ethnicity in Nigeria |first=Abu Bakarr |last=Bah |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7391-0954-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oje32eObrmYC&pg=PA23 |pages= 23–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inter-ethnic and religious conflict resolution in Nigeria |first1=Ernest E. |last1=Uwazie |first2=Isaac Olawale |last2=Albert |publisher=Lexington Books |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7391-0033-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmmA9dcYaGgC&pg=PA11 |pages= 11–12}}</ref>

In 1978, after [[Olusegun Obasanjo]]'s military regime lifted the ban on independent political activity, the [[Ohanaeze Ndigbo]] organization was formed, an elite umbrella organization which speaks on behalf of the Igbo people.<ref>{{cite book|title=Shaping truth, reshaping justice: sectarian politics and the Nigerian truth commission |first=Nneoma V. |last=Nwogu |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7391-2249-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Cultural Diversity Versus Economic Solidarity |first=Philippe van |last=Parijs |publisher=De Boeck Université |year=2004 |isbn=978-2-8041-4660-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDCc9Y8oCM0C&pg=PA122 |page=122}}</ref> Their main concerns are the marginalization of the Igbo people in Nigerian politics and the neglect of indigenous Igbo territory in social amenities and development of infrastructure. Other groups which protest the perceived marginalization of the Igbo people are the Igbo Peoples Congress.<ref name="org">{{cite book |last=Agbu |first=Osita |url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn%3Anbn%3Ase%3Anai%3Adiva-95 |title=Ethnic militias and the threat to democracy in post-transition Nigeria |publisher=Nordic Africa Institute |year=2004 |isbn=978-91-7106-525-4 |page=23}}</ref> Even before the 20th century, there were numerous Igbo unions and organizations existing around the world, such as the Igbo union in [[Banjul|Bathurst, Gambia]] in 1842, founded by a prominent Igbo trader and ex-soldier named Thomas Refell. Another was the union founded by the Igbo community in [[Freetown]], Sierra Leone by 1860, of which [[Africanus Horton]], a surgeon, scientist and soldier, was an active member.<ref>{{cite book|title=Studies in Southern Nigerian history |first=Boniface I. |last=Obichere |publisher=Routledge |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-7146-3106-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FYFxE8-uSa4C&pg=PA173 |page=173}}</ref>

Decades after the Nigerian-Biafran war, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), a secessionist group, was founded in September 1999 by Ralph Uwazurike for the goal of an independent Igbo state. Since its creation, there have been several conflicts between its members and the Nigerian government, resulting in the death of members.<ref name=org /><ref>{{cite book|title=A culture of corruption: everyday deception and popular discontent in Nigeria |first=Daniel Jordan |last=Smith |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-691-12722-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G3zd2SFAy8EC&pg=PA193 |pages= 193–194}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The "civil society" problematique: deconstructing civility and southern Nigeria's ethnic radicalization |first=Adedayo Oluwakayode |last=Adekson |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-415-94785-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swljpMQ9XBgC&pg=PA106 |page=106}}</ref> After the 2015 Nigerian general elections a group known as the [[Indigenous People of Biafra]] became the most prominent vocal group for the agitation of the creation of an independent state of Biafra through a radio station named [[Radio Biafra]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Nigeria vows to shut down Radio Biafra |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33536252 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=15 July 2015 |access-date=6 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=28 August 2015 |title=Nigerian pirate Radio Biafra returns |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/monitoring/nigerian-pirate-radio-biafra-returns |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027085911/http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/monitoring/nigerian-pirate-radio-biafra-returns |archive-date=2015-10-27 |access-date=6 September 2015 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} For the promotion of the Igbo language and culture, the [[Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture]] was founded in 1949 by Frederick Chidozie Ogbalu and has since created a standard dialect for Igbo.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African literature |first=Simon |last=Gikandi |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-415-23019-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFuWQmsM0HsC&pg=PA328 |page=328}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The African palimpsest: indigenization of language in the West African europhone novel |first=Chantal |last=Zabus |publisher=Rodopi |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-420-2224-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sv27dpnZeWAC&pg=PA33 |page=33}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
=== Nigeria ===
{{See also|Demographics of Nigeria}}
The Igbo people are the third largest ethnic group in Nigeria. They are natively found in [[Abia State|Abia]], [[Anambra State|Anambra]], [[Ebonyi State|Ebonyi]], [[Enugu State|Enugu]], [[Imo State|Imo]], part of [[Delta State|Delta]], and [[Rivers State]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Overcoming Women's Subordination in the Igbo African Culture and in the Catholic Church: Envisioning an Inclusive Theology with Reference to Women |first=Rose N. |last=Uchem |publisher=Universal Publishers |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-58112-133-9 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Zhfu363kfkC&pg=PA36 }}</ref> The Igbo language is predominant spoken throughout the South-East, although [[Nigerian English]] is spoken as well. Prominent towns and cities in Igboland include [[Asaba]], [[Aba, Nigeria|Aba]], [[Abakaliki]], [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]], [[Nnewi]], [[Onitsha]], and [[Owerri]] among others.<ref>{{cite book |title=Troubled Journey: Nigeria Since the Civil War |first=Levi Akalazu |last=Nwachuku |author2=G. N. Uzoigwe |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7618-2712-2 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MvR4mE54QUC&pg=PA8 |access-date=10 January 2009}}</ref> A significant number of Igbo people have migrated to other regions of Nigeria for trades, works and investment, such as [[Lagos]], [[Abuja]] and [[Kano (city)|Kano]].<ref name=modern />

The official data on the population of ethnic groups in Nigeria continues to be controversial as a minority of these groups have claimed that the government deliberately deflates the official population of one group, to give the other numerical superiority.<ref>{{cite news |last=Onuah |first=Felix |date=29 December 2006 |title=Nigeria gives census result, avoids risky details |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29819278.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330161141/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29819278.htm |archive-date=2009-03-30 |access-date=23 November 2008 |agency=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Growing Apart: Oil, Politics, and Economic Change in Indonesia and Nigeria |first=Peter |last=Lewis |page=132 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-472-06980-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4-rlVeb1n0C&pg=PA132 |access-date=23 November 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria |first=Rotimi T. |last=Suberu |publisher=US Institute of Peace Press |year=2001 |page=154 |isbn=978-1-929223-28-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKeUMmDlPkEC&pg=PA154 |access-date=18 December 2008}}</ref> The [[CIA World Factbook]] puts the Igbo population of Nigeria at 15.2% of a total population of 230 million, or approximately 35 million people.<ref name="Nigeria CIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/ |title=Nigeria country profile] at CIA's ''The World Factbook'' |website=www.cia.gov |quote="Igbo 15.2%" out of a population of 230,842,743 (2023 estimate)}}</ref>

[[Igboland|Southeastern Nigeria]], which is inhabited primarily by the Igbo, is the most densely populated area in Nigeria and possibly in all of Africa.<ref>{{cite book |title=IITA Annual Report |publisher=International Institute of Tropical Agriculture |year=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QypgAAAAMAAJ |page=8 |access-date=26 December 2008 | isbn=978-978-131-048-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Nigeria |first=Charles |last=Jarmon |publisher=BRILL |year=1988 |isbn=978-90-04-08340-0 |page=113 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7I4stctWmYC&pg=PA113 |access-date=26 December 2008}}</ref> Most ethnicities that inhabit southeastern Nigeria, such as the closely related [[Efik people|Efik]] and [[Ibibio people]], are sometimes regarded as Igbo by other [[Nigerians]] and [[Ethnography|ethnographers]] who are not well informed about the southeast.<ref name=Ibo>{{cite book|title=Inculturation as Dialogue: Igbo Culture and the Message of Christ |first=Chibueze |last=Udeani |publisher=Rodopi |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-420-2229-4 |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGjKp-7FyGIC&pg=PA7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Mission to Educate: A History of the Educational Work of the Scottish Presbyterian Mission in East Nigeria, 1846–1960 |first=William H. |last=Taylor |publisher=BRILL |year=1996 |isbn=978-90-04-10713-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjqqzE4ByhMC&pg=PA31 |page=31 |access-date=26 December 2008}}</ref>

=== Diaspora ===
{{See also|Nigerian diaspora|Igbo American|Igbo Canadian|The Igbo in the Atlantic slave trade}}
[[File:NewYam-IgboFestival-Dublin.jpg|thumb|right|Igbo people celebrating the [[New Yam Festival of the Igbo|New Yam festival]] in [[Dublin]], Ireland]]
After the [[Nigerian Civil War]], many Igbo people emigrated out of the indigenous Igbo homeland in southeastern Nigeria because of an absence of federal presence, lack of jobs, and poor infrastructure.<ref>{{cite book|title=Immigrant Women and Feminism in Italy |first=Wendy Ann |last=Pojmann |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7546-4674-7 |pages= 35–36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tNyw1J9Z08C&pg=PA35}}</ref> In recent decades the Igbo region of Nigeria has suffered from frequent environmental damage mainly related to the [[Petroleum industry in Nigeria|oil industry]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wief.net/wiefpresentation.pdf |title=World Igbo Environmental Federation |access-date=23 November 2008 |archive-date=19 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219184152/http://www.wief.net/wiefpresentation.pdf }}</ref> Igbo people have moved to both [[List of Nigerian cities by population|Nigerian cities]] such as [[Lagos]] and [[Abuja]], and other countries such as [[Gabon]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Trans-Atlantic Migration: The Paradoxes of Exile |first=Toyin |last=Falola |author2=Niyi Afolabi |isbn=978-0-415-96091-5 |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yJq1K33Cz4C&pg=PA35 |page=35}}</ref> [[Canada]], the [[Nigerian British|United Kingdom]] and the [[Nigerian American|United States]]. Prominent Igbo communities outside [[Africa]] include those of [[London]] and the [[United States]] (especially in cities like [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], [[Baltimore]], [[Chicago]], [[Detroit]], [[Seattle]], [[Atlanta]] and [[Washington, D.C.]]).<ref>{{cite web | title= The Nigerian Diaspora in the United States| url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/RAD-Nigeria.pdf |work=[[Migration Policy Institute]]| date=2015| access-date=2025-09-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Africa Is In A Mess What Went Wrong And What Should Be Done |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L9HV5wk0dVAC&pg=PA82 |first=Godfrey |last=Mwakikagile |page=82 |publisher=Fultus Corporation |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-9744339-7-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Immigration |first=James |last=Ciment |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7656-8028-0 |page=1075}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Farr |first=Marcia |url= |title=Ethnolinguistic Chicago: Language and Literacy in the City's Neighborhoods |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8058-4345-3 |page=182}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century |first=Norine |last=Dresser |edition=revised, illustrated |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-471-68428-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Brrmm0cDHz0C&pg=PA212 |page=212}}</ref>

About 21,000 Igbo people were recorded in [[Ghana]] in 1969,<ref>{{cite book |title=Strangers and Traders: Yoruba Migrants, Markets and the State in Northern Ghana |first=Jeremy Seymour |last=Eades |edition=illustrated |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-7486-0386-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bIzHacPHmgC&pg=PA200 |page=200}}</ref> while a small number (about 8,680) lived on [[Bioko|Bioko island]] in 2002.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z |first=James |last=Minahan |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-313-32384-3 |page=330 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K94wQ9MF2JsC&pg=PA330}}</ref> Small numbers live in [[Japan]], making up the majority of the [[Nigerians in Japan|Nigerian immigrant population]] based in [[Tokyo]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Richard |first=Dreux |date=19 July 2011 |title=Japan's Nigerians pay price for prosperity |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20110719zg.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018190626/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20110719zg.html |archive-date=2012-10-18 |access-date=31 March 2012 |newspaper=[[The Japan Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Japan's Nigerians see symbol of change in masquerade |first=Dreux |last=Richard |newspaper=The Japan Times |date=11 June 2013 |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/11/issues/japans-nigerians-see-symbol-of-change-in-masquerade/#.UevxcGSgk0s |access-date=21 July 2013}}</ref> A large amount of the African population of [[Guangdong]], China, is Igbo-speaking and are mainly businessmen trading between factories in [[China]] and southeastern [[Nigeria]], particularly [[Enugu (city)|Enugu]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Migration and business: Weaving the world together |newspaper=The Economist |date=19 November 2011 |url=https://www.economist.com/briefing/2011/11/19/weaving-the-world-together |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref>

The [[August meeting]] is an annual congress held by the Igbo women. It is a massive homecoming whereby Igbo women in the [[diaspora]] and the cities travel back to their matrimonial villages to meet with their local counterparts to discuss matters about the community development, [[Conflict Management]], [[Human development (economics)|human development]], and other [[socio-economic]] and [[cultural]] initiatives.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://guardian.ng/life/culture-lifestyle/august-meeting-is-a-history-lesson-everyone-needs-to-learn/ |title="August Meeting" Is A History Lesson Everyone Needs To Learn |last=Ugobude |first=Franklin |date=8 March 2018 |work=[[The Guardian (Nigeria)]] |access-date=27 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://leadership.ng/2019/08/30/igbo-women-and-the-august-meeting-festival/ |title=Igbo Women And The August Meeting Festival |last=Nwaogu |first=Christiana |date=30 August 2019 |work=leadership.ng |access-date=27 October 2019 |archive-date=6 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706230905/https://leadership.ng/2019/08/30/igbo-women-and-the-august-meeting-festival/ }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Igbo-Ukwu]]
* [[Timeline of Igbo history]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}

'''General'''
* {{cite book |url=http://www.opensourceguinea.org/2013/02/cyril-daryll-forde-and-g-i-jones-ibo.html |title=The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern Nigeria |last=Forde |first=Cyril Daryll |author2=Jones, G. I. |year=1950 |publisher=International African Institute by Oxford Unive}}
* {{cite book |title=The Igbos of Nigeria: Ancient Rites, Changes, and Survival |last= Njoku |first= John Eberegbulam |year= 1990 |publisher= [[Edwin Mellen Press]] |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |isbn= 978-0-88946-173-4}}
* Chuku, Gloria. "Igbo historiography: Parts I, II, and III." ''History Compass'' 16.10 (2018): e12489.
'''Art'''
* {{cite book |title=Igbo Art & Culture |first=Simon |last=Ottenberg |editor=Toyin Falola |publisher= Africa World Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-59221-442-6}}

'''Music'''
* {{cite book |title=The Performing arts: music and dance |first1=John |last1=Blacking |first2=Joann W. |last2=Kealiinohomoku |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1979 |isbn=978-90-279-7870-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/performingartsmu0000cong }}
* {{cite book |title=Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions |last=Agawu |first=Kofi |year=2003 |publisher= Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-94390-1}}

'''Economy'''
* Chidi Leonard Ilechukwu: ''Igbo: Indigenous Economy and the Search for Sustainable Development in Post Colonial African Society''. Cidjap Press, Enugu, Nigeria 2008, {{ISBN|978-978-087-181-9}}.

{{col-break|width=50%}}

'''Politics'''
* {{cite book |title= Ibo Politics: The Role Of Ethnic Unions In Eastern Nigeria |last= Smock |first= Audrey C. |year= 1971 |publisher= [[Harvard University Press]] |location= Cambridge, MA |isbn= 978-0-674-44025-8 |url= https://archive.org/details/ibopoliticsroleo0000smoc }}
* {{cite book |title=Igbo political culture |first=Elechukwu Nnadibuagha |last=Njaka |publisher=Northwestern University Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-8101-0428-0}}

'''Society'''
* {{cite book |title=Social Problems in Africa: New Visions |last= Rwomire |first= Apollo |year= 2001 |publisher= Praeger/Greenwood |isbn= 978-0-275-96343-9}}
* {{cite book |title= Emerging Perspectives on Chinua Achebe |editor=Emenyonu, Ernest |year= 2003 |publisher= Africa World Press |isbn= 978-0-86543-876-7}}
* {{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures. Volume I: Topics and Cultures A–K |last= Smith |first= David Jordan |year= 2004 |chapter= Igbo |publisher= Springer |isbn= 978-0-306-47770-6}}
* {{cite book |title= Toasting the Bride: Memoirs of Milestones to Manhood |last= Okpala |first= Benneth |year= 2003 |publisher= Trafford Publishing |edition= 2nd |isbn= 978-1-4120-0777-1}}
* P.E. Aligwekwe, The Continuity of Traditional Values in the African Societies (the Igbo of Nigeria), Xlibris Publishing Company, IN, USA, 2008.

'''Diaspora'''
* {{cite book |title=Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia |first=Douglas B. |last=Chambers |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57806-706-0}}
* {{cite book |title=Slave counterpoint: Black culture in the eighteenth-century Chesapeake and Lowcountry |url=https://archive.org/details/slavecounterpoin00morg |url-access=registration |first=Philip D. |last=Morgan |author2=Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture |publisher=UNC Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8078-4717-6}}
{{col-end}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Igbo people}}
{{Scholia|topic}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081015034453/http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/ GI Jones Photographic Archive of southeastern Nigeria]
* [http://www.igboguide.org/ Igboguide.org – Insight into Igbo Culture and Language]
* [https://naijagists.com/igbo-weddings-how-to-do-igbo-traditional-marriage-wedding-igboland Wedding Tradition In Igboland]

{{Igbo topics}}
{{Ethnic groups in Nigeria}}
{{Ethnic groups in Equatorial Guinea}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Igbo people| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Nigeria]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta]]
[[Category:West African people]]
[[Category:Biafra]]
[[Category:Igbo society]]