Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

148 results found

Ife

(Encyclopedia)Ife ēˈfā [key], city (1991 est. pop. 262,000), SW Nigeria. Located in a farm region, the city is an important center for marketing and shipping cacao. According to tradition, Ife is the oldest Yoru...

Amadi, Elechi

(Encyclopedia)Amadi, Elechi, 1934–2016, Nigerian novelist, one of the first generation of African novelists who wrote in English; grad. University College, Ibadan. An Ikwerre, he is best known for the novel The C...

Katsina

(Encyclopedia)Katsina kätsēˈnə, kätˈsĭnə [key], 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 ...

Oshogbo

(Encyclopedia)Oshogbo ōshōbˈbō [key], city (1991 est. pop. 421,000), SW Nigeria, on the Oshun River. Primarily a farming and commercial city, it has cotton gins, a steel-rolling mill, a traditional textiles ind...

Zinder

(Encyclopedia)Zinder zĭnˈdər [key], city (1988 pop. 120,892), S Niger. It is the trade center for an agricultural region where grains, manioc, and peanuts are grown, and cattle and sheep are raised. Manufactures...

Bornu

(Encyclopedia)Bornu bôrˈno͞o [key], former Muslim state, mostly in NE Nigeria, extending S and W of Lake Chad. It began its existence as a separate state in the late 14th cent. From the 14th to the 18th cent. Bo...

Taylor, Charles Ghankay

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Charles Ghankay, 1948–, Liberian rebel and political leader. Taylor attended college in America and became a leader among Liberians there, mounting demonstrations against President William T...

Porto-Novo

(Encyclopedia)Porto-Novo pôrˈtō nōˈvō [key], city (1992 pop. 179,138), capital of Benin, S Benin, a port on Porto-Novo lagoon, an arm of the Gulf of Guinea. It is Benin's second largest city and an administra...

Price, Lloyd

(Encyclopedia) Price, Lloyd, 1933-2021, b. Kenner, La. Price began his first band at age 18 while also working in construction. Signed to Specialty Records, his firs...

Babangida, Ibrahim

(Encyclopedia)Babangida, Ibrahim ēbräˈhēm bäbänˈgēdä [key], 1941–, Nigerian military and political leader. After graduating (1963) from Nigeria's military college, he joined the army and received further...

Browse by Subject