A city of southwest Nigeria east of Ibadan. Center of a powerful Yoruba kingdom until the late 17th century, it is an agricultural market with varied industries. Population: 372,000.
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A city of southwest Nigeria east of Ibadan. Center of a powerful Yoruba kingdom until the late 17th century, it is an agricultural market with varied industries. Population: 372,000.
The country code is: 234
The city code is: 36
Ife (Yoruba: Ifè, also Ilé-Ifẹ̀) is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. Evidence of settlement of the city has been discovered dating back as far as 500 BC. It is located in present day Osun State, with a population of 501,952.
Today a mid-sized city, Ife is home to the Obafemi Awolowo University and Natural History Museum of Nigeria. Ife people are of the Yoruba ethnic group, one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. Ife has a local television station called NTA Ife, and is home to various businesses. Ife is also the trade center for a farming region. Yams, cassava, grain, cacao, and tobacco are grown. Cotton is grown and used to weave cloth. Hotels in Ilé-Ife include Hotel Diganga Ife-Ibadan road, Mayfair Hotel, Obafemi Awolowo University Guest House etc. Ilé-Ife has a stadium with a capacity of 9,000 and a second division professional league football team.
According to Yoruba legend, Ife is where the founding deities Oduduwa and Obatala began the creation of the world, as directed by the paramount deity Olodumare. Obàtálá created the first humans out of clay, while Odùduwà became the first divine king of the Yoruba. The Oòni (King) of Ife claims direct descent from the god Oduduwa, and is counted first among Yoruba kings. Until today many of the surviving traditional religious groups of the city celebrate the creation of the world during the Itapa festival.
The Yoruba claim to have originated from Ife.[1] According to Yoruba mythology, Olorun, the supreme god, ordered his son, Oduduwa, to climb down from the heavens on a chain with three things.[2] Oduduwa scattered a handful of dirt over the ocean creating Ile Ife, then put a cockerel on the land which dug a whole.[3] Oduduwa planted a palm nut in the whole and from there sprang a great tree with sixteen branches representing the families of the early Yoruba states.[4]
Another origin story from the Yoruba is that they were the product of intermarriage between a small band of invaders from the savanna and the indigenous inhabitants of the forest.[5] According to this version, Oduduwa was the son of Lamurudu, a prince from the east (possibly Mecca).[6] The Yoruba chafed under Islam, and Oduduwa and the natives left the land.[7] After wandering for some time, they found and settled the state of Ife.[8] Oduduwa then had seven descendents who founded the Yoruba states of Owu, Sabe, Popo, Benin, Ila, Ketu and Oyo.[9]
Between 700 and 900 A.D., Ife began to develop as a major artistic centre, and the city was a settlement of substantial size between the 9th and 12th centuries, with houses featuring potsherd pavement. Ilé-Ifè is known worldwide for its ancient and naturalistic bronze, stone and terracotta sculptures, which reached their peak of artistic expression between 1200 and 1400 A.D. After this period, production declined as political and economic power shifted to the nearby kingdom of Benin which like the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, developed into a major empire.
Bronze and terracotta art created by this
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