Hausa language, member of the Chadic group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic family of languages. See Afroasiatic languages.

Barth, Heinrich, 1821–65, German explorer in British service. After traveling (1845–47) through the Levant and N Africa, he entered the service of the British government. He joined (1849) an e...

Katsina, city (1991 est. pop. 182,000), N Nigeria, near the Niger frontier. The city, surrounded by a wall 13 mi (21 km) long, is the trade center for an agricultural region where guinea corn ...

Usuman dan Fodio 1754–1817. Fulani religious and political leader. Beginning as an itinerant Muslim missionary in northern Nigeria, he gained a large following for his syncretic visions, estab...

Zaria, city (1991 est. pop. 335,000), N Nigeria. It is the ginning center for Nigeria's main cotton-growing region. Cottonseed, peanuts, and shea-nut oil are produced. The city is on a major n...

Clapperton, Hugh, 1788–1827, British explorer, b. Annan, Scotland. After serving with the British navy in East India and Canada he made two journeys to W Africa. On the initial journey (1822–2...

Fulani, people of W Africa, numbering approximately 14 million. They are of mixed sub-Saharan African and Berber origin. First recorded as living in the Senegambia region, they are now scatter...

Gullah, a creole language formerly spoken by the Gullah, an African-American community of the Sea Islands and the Middle Atlantic coast of the United States. The word is probably a corruption ...

Igbo or Ibo, one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, deriving mainly from SE Nigeria, numbering around 15 million. Originally settled in many autonomous villages, the Igbo nevertheless ha...

Kano, city (1991 est. pop. 595,000), N Nigeria. It is the trade and shipping center for an agricultural region where cotton, cattle, and about half of Nigeria's peanuts are raised. Kano is the...