Hausa
Total population
30-35 million (Newman 2000, Schuh 2001)
Regions with significant populations
Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan
Languages
Hausa
Religions
Islam

The Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers spoken as a first Language by about 24 million people and as a second language by about 15 For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. See also Sahel Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. The Sahel or Sahel Belt (from Arabic ساحل sāḥil West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. There are also significant numbers found in regions of Sudan, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Chad and smaller communities scattered throughout West Africa and on the traditional Hajj route across the Sahara Desert and Sahel. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. The Hajj (حج is a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest Many Hausa have moved to large near coastal cities in West Africa such as Lagos, Accra, Kumasi and Cotonou, as well as to countries such as Libya, in search of jobs that pay cash wages. Lagos ( pron ˈleɪgɒs or /ˈlɑːgoʊs/ overseas is the most populous Conurbation in Nigeria with Accra is the capital, and most populous city of Ghana. The city also doubles as the capital of the Greater Kumasi is a City in southern central Ghana. It is located near the Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about 250 km (by road Cotonou is the economic capital of Benin, as well as its largest city Libya ( ليبيا ar-Latn Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh:) officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab However, most Hausa remain in small villages, where they grow crops (Hausa farmers time their activities according to seasonal changes in rainfall and temperature) and raise livestock, including cattle. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family They speak the Hausa language, a member of the Chadic language group, itself a sub-group of the larger Afro-Asiatic language family. Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers spoken as a first Language by about 24 million people and as a second language by about 15 The Chadic languages constitute a language family spoken across northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic and Cameroon The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa

History and culture

Kano, Nigeria is considered the center of Hausa trade and culture. Kano is the administrative center of the Kano State and the third largest City in Nigeria, in terms Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal In terms of cultural relations to other peoples of West Africa, the Hausa are culturally and historically close to the Fulani, Songhai, Mandé and Tuareg as well as other Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan groups further East in Chad and Sudan. The Fula or Fulbe or Fulani (the latter being an Anglicisation of the word in their language Fulɓe) are an ethnic group of The Songhai are an ethnic group from western Africa akin to the Mandé. Mandé is an Ethnic group of West Africa. Speakers of the Mande languages are found in Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau The Tuareg (also Twareg or Touareg, Amazigh: Imuhagh / Itargiyen, besides regional ethnyms are a Nomadic The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa The Nilo-Saharan languages are a hypothetical group of African languages spoken mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers (hence the term Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. Islamic Shari’a law is loosely the law of the land and is understood by any full time practitioner of Islam, known in Hausa as a Mallam (see Maulana). Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law.

Between 500 CE and 700 CE Hausa people, who had been slowly moving west from Nubia and mixing in with the local Northern and Central Nigerian population, established a number of strong states in what is now Northern and Central Nigeria and Eastern Niger. This article is about the region in Africa for other uses see Nubia (disambiguation. With the decline of the Nok and Sokoto, who had previously controlled Central and Northern Nigeria between 800 BCE and 200 CE, the Hausa were able to emerge as the new power in the region. The Nok civilization appeared in Nigeria around 500 BC and mysteriously vanished around 200 AD Sokoto is a city located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to where the Sokoto River and Rima River meet Closely linked with the Kanuri people of Kanem-Bornu (Lake Chad), the Hausa aristocracy adopted Islam in the 11th century CE. The Kanuri are an African Ethnic group living in Bornu state in northeastern Nigeria, southeast Niger, western Chad and The Kanem Empire (700 - 1376 was located in the present countries of Chad and Libya. Lake Chad (in French Lac Tchad) is a historically large shallow lake in Africa, whose size has varied greatly over the centuries For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation.

Near East in 1200 AD, showing Hausa States and neighbors.

By the 12th century CE the Hausa were becoming one of Africa's major powers. The architecture of the Hausa is perhaps one of the least known but most beautiful of the medieval age. Many of their early mosques and palaces are bright and colourful and often include intricate engraving or elaborate symbols designed into the facade. A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger By 1500 CE the Hausa utilized a modified Arabic script known as ajami to record their own language; the Hausa compiled several written histories, the most popular being the Kano Chronicle. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. The Kano Chronicle is a written account of the History of the Hausa people who inhabit northern Nigeria.

In 1810 the Fulani, another Islamic African ethnic group that spanned across West Africa, invaded the Hausa states. The Fula or Fulbe or Fulani (the latter being an Anglicisation of the word in their language Fulɓe) are an ethnic group of Their cultural similarities however allowed for significant integration between the two groups, who in modern times are often demarcated as "Hausa-Fulani", rather than as individuated groups and many Fulani in the region do not distinguish themselves from the Hausa. Hausa-Fulani is a term used to refer collectively to the Hausa and Fulani people of West Africa.

The Hausa remain preeminent in Niger and Northern Nigeria. Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Northern Nigeria is a geographical region of Nigeria. It is more arid and has less population density than the south Their impact in Nigeria is paramount, as the Hausa-Fulani amalgamation has controlled Nigerian politics for much of its independent history. They remain one of the largest and most historically grounded civilizations in West Africa.

Religion

Hausa have an ancient culture that had an extensive coverage area, and long ties to the Arabs and other Islamized peoples in West Africa, such as the Mandé, Fulani and even the Wolof of Senegambia, through extended long distance trade. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Mandé is an Ethnic group of West Africa. Speakers of the Mande languages are found in Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau The Fula or Fulbe or Fulani (the latter being an Anglicisation of the word in their language Fulɓe) are an ethnic group of The Senegambia Confederation was a loose Confederation between the West African countries of Senegal and its neighbour The Gambia, which is almost Islam has been present in Hausaland since the 14th century, but it was largely restricted to the region's rulers and their courts. The Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. Rural areas generally retained their animist beliefs and their urban leaders thus drew on both Islamic and African traditions to legitimise their rule. Muslim scholars of the early nineteenth century disapproved of the hybrid religion practised in royal courts, and a desire for reform was a major motive behind the formation of the Sokoto Caliphate. Scholars in Islamic studies are both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who work in one or more fields of Islamic studies. The Sokoto Caliphate is an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. ^[1] It was after the formation of this state that Islam became firmly entrenched in rural areas. The Hausa people have been an important vector for the spread of Islam in West Africa through economic contact, diaspora trading communities, politics, and the forging of relationships with Ghanaian Christian girls.

Maguzawa, the animist religion, was practiced extensively before Islam. Maguzawa are Hausa people who still adhere to some of the tenets of the pre-Islamic traditional religions of Kano and Katsina, cities in northern Nigeria In the more remote areas of Hausaland Maguzawa has remained fully intact, but as one gets closer to more urban areas it almost totally disappears. It often includes the sacrifice of animals for personal ends, it is thought of as illegitimate to practice Maguzawa magic for harm. What remains in more populous areas is a “cult of spirit-possession” known as Bori (religion) which still holds the old religion's elements of animism and magic. Bori is a spirit possession cult of the Hausa people of West Africa A belief in magic as a means of influencing the world seems to have been common in all Cultures Some of these beliefs crossed over into nascent Religions influencing ^[2]

Clothing

The Hausa people have a very restricted dressing code due to the fact of religious beliefs. The men are easily recognizable because of their elaborate dress which is a large flowing gown known as gare and babban riga. These large flowing gowns usually feature some elaborate embroidery designs around the neck. (See Boubou for more information). Men also wear colorful embroidered caps known as hulla. The females can be identified by their dressing codes in which they wear wrap-around rope made with colorful cloth with a matching blouse, head tie and shawl.

Food

The most common food that the Hausa people prepare consist of grains such as sorghum millet, or rice and maize which are grounded into flour for a variety of different kinds of food. Grains make up the structure of Metals Metal surfaces contain a number of small crystals known as grains with boundaries where they join Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as Fodder plants either cultivated or as part The millets are a group of small- Seeded Species of Cereal crops or grains widely grown around the world for Food and Fodder Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Usually, breakfast consist of cakes made from grounded beans which is then fried known as kosai or wheat flour soaked for a day then fried and serve with sugar known as funkaso. Breakfast is the first meal of the day The word derives from the idea of break ing the '''fast''' of sleep Cake is a form of Food that is usually sweet and often baked. Both of these cakes can be served with porridge and sugar known as coco. Porridge, or porage, is a simple dish made by boiling Oats (normally crushed oats occasionally Oatmeal) or another cereal in Water Sugar is a class of edible Crystalline substances mainly Sucrose, Lactose, and Fructose. Lunch or dinner are usually served as heavy porridge with soup and stew known as tuwo da miya. Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a midday Meal. In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century what was originally called " Dinner is the main Meal of the day The meal normally consists of a combination of cooked or sometimes uncooked proteins (meat fish or legumes with vegetables and/or Soup is a Food that is made by combining ingredients such as Meat and Vegetables in stock or hot/boiling Water, until the flavor A stew is a combination of Solid Food Ingredients that have been Cooked in Water or other water-based liquid typically by Simmering The soup and stew are usually prepared with ground or chopped tomatoes, onions, and pepper. The tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum, syn Lycopersicon lycopersicum) is a herbaceous usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family Organicsalsajpg||thumb|right|Onions used in salsa.]]Cooked onions in frying pan While preparing the soup, most of the times spices and other vegetables such as spinach, pumpkin, or okra are added to the soup. Soup is a Food that is made by combining ingredients such as Meat and Vegetables in stock or hot/boiling Water, until the flavor A spice is a dried Seed, Fruit, Root, Bark or vegetative substance used in Nutritionally insignificant quantities as a Food additive The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however Spinach ( Spinacia oleracea) is a Flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. Pumpkin is a Gourd -like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae (which also includes gourds Okra ( American English:, British English,) also known as lady's finger, bhindi ( Hindustani) and gumbo, is a The stew is prepared with meat which ranges from goat to cow meat with the exclusion of pork due to Islamic religion restrictions. The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer Pork' is the Culinary name for Meat from the domestic Pig ( Sus scrofa) often specifically the fresh meat but can be used as an all-inclusive For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Beans, peanuts, and milk are also served as a complimentary protein diet for the Hausa people. Bean is a common name for large plant Seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae used for human food or animal Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday Comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the Mammary glands of female Mammals (including Monotremes. Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl

Population

Table of Hausa population by country

Country	Population, 1000s
Algeria	9
Benin	34
Burkina Faso	2
Cameroon	238
Central African Republic	29
Chad	158
Congo	8. Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's Benin (bə'nɪn officially the Republic of Benin, and also known as Benin Republic, is a country in Western Africa. Burkina Faso (bɚˌkiːnəˈfɑːsoʊ burr-KEE-na FAH-soh) also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a Landlocked nation in West Africa The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Central Africa|Central African FederationThe Central African Republic ( CAR) République Centrafricaine ʀepyblik sɑ̃tʀafʀikɛn or Centrafrique) is a Landlocked Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. The Republic of the Congo (République du Congo Kongo: Repubilika ya Kongo; Lingala: Republiki ya Kongó) also known as Congo-Brazzaville 1
Côte d'Ivoire	108
Equatorial Guinea	11
Gabon	8. Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a The Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( República de Guinea Ecuatorial,) is a country in Central Africa. Gabon (gəˈbɒn or /gaˈbõ/ in French) is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic 4
Gambia	7. 3
Ghana	202
Niger	5,598
Nigeria	21,000
Sudan	550
Togo	14

See also

• Hausa-Fulani
• Bayajidda

References

External links

• Hausa.info
• Hausa Information at Art and Life in Africa Online
• [1]