Affinity Bloc: Sub-Saharan African

Overview: The Ijaw people live in Rivers and Bendel states in Nigeria. Much of their land is located in the Niger Delta and consists of mangrove swamps and farmland. Since the region is crisscrossed by many creeks and rivers, fishing has always been important to the Ijaws. Ijaw tradition has them moving from the east and north to their present homeland in the fifteenth century, but their language does not resemble other Nigerian languages in the region. The Ijaw people cluster encompasses a number of Ijaw subgroups, including the Izon, Kalabari, Okrika, and Ibani.

  -- James S. Olson, The Peoples of Africa. London: Greenwood Press (1996), p. 236

Peoples within this cluster: Defaka; Ibani; Ijaw, Northeast Central; Ijaw, Southeast; Izon; Kalabari; Nkoro; Okodia; Okrika; Oruma

Countries where they are found: Ghana; Nigeria