Nigeria

===Early history ===
{{Main|History of Nigeria before 1500}}
[[File:Queen Mother Pendant Mask- Iyoba MET DP231460.jpg|thumb|Royal [[Benin ivory mask]], one of Nigeria's most recognized artifacts. [[Benin Empire]], 16th century.]]

The ''[[Kano Chronicle]]'' highlights an ancient history dating to around 999 AD of the [[Hausa Kingdoms|Hausa]] [[Sahelian kingdoms|Sahelian city-state]] of [[Kano (city)|Kano]], with other major Hausa cities (or [[Hausa Bakwai]]) of [[Daura]], [[Hadejia|Hadeija]], [[Kano (city)|Kano]], [[Katsina]], [[Zazzau]], [[Rano]], and [[Gobir]] all having recorded histories dating back to the 10th century. With the spread of Islam from the 7th century AD, the area became known as ''[[Sudan (region)|Sudan]]'' or as ''Bilad Al Sudan'' (English: Land of the Blacks). Since the populations were partially affiliated with the Arab Muslim culture of [[North Africa]], they began [[trans-Saharan trade]] and were referred to by the Arabic speakers as ''Al-Sudan'' (meaning "The Blacks") as they were considered an extended part of the [[Muslim world]]. There are early historical references by medieval Arab and Muslim historians and geographers which refer to the [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]] as the region's major centre for Islamic civilization.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The [[Kingdom of Nri]] of the Igbo people consolidated in the 10th century and continued until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911.<ref name="Juang3">{{cite book|last=Juang|first=Richard M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFrAOqfhuGYC&pg=PA597|title=Africa and the Americas: culture, politics, and history: a multidisciplinary encyclopedia, Volume 2|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2008|isbn=978-1-85109-441-7|page=597}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hrbek|first=Ivan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDFcD0BuekQC&pg=PA254|title=Africa from the seventh to the eleventh Century|publisher=James Currey Publishers|year=1992|isbn=978-0-85255-093-9|page=254}}</ref> Nri was ruled by the [[List of rulers of Nri|Eze Nri]], and the city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of [[Igbo culture]]. Nri and [[Aguleri]], where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umeuri clan. Members of the clan trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure [[Eri (king)|Eri]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Uzukwu|first=E. Elochukwu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9hhmzVrYPHAC|title=Worship as Body Language|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8146-6151-2|page=93}}</ref> In West Africa, the oldest bronzes made using the [[lost wax process]] were from [[Igbo-Ukwu]], a city under Nri influence.<ref name="Juang3" />

The [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] kingdoms of [[Ife]] and [[Oyo Empire|Oyo]] in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th<ref name="Falola13">{{cite book|last1=Falola|first1=Toyin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XygZjbNRap0C&pg=PA23|title=A History of Nigeria|last2=Heaton|first2=Matthew M.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-521-68157-5|page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Laitin|first=David D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHbrDvGQEbUC&pg=PA111|title=Hegemony and culture: politics and religious change among the Yoruba|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=1986|isbn=978-0-226-46790-0|page=111}}</ref> and 14th<ref>{{cite book|last1=MacDonald|first1=Fiona|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=joh5yHfcF-8C&pg=PA385|title=Peoples of Africa, Volume 1|last2=Paren|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Shillington|first3=Kevin|author3-link=Kevin Shillington|last4=Stacey|first4=Gillian|last5=Steele|first5=Philip|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2000|isbn=978-0-7614-7158-5|page=385}}</ref> centuries, respectively. The oldest signs of [[human]] settlement at Ife's current site date back to the 9th century,<ref name="Falola13" /> and its material culture includes terracotta and bronze figures.