{
  "reviewed": "2026-10-06",
  "description": "Mixed-date, source-dependent population ledger; not a census or complete worldwide count. Null means unquantified, not zero. State residents are separate and not added.",
  "sources": {
    "nbs": {
      "name": "NBS · Demographic Statistics Bulletin 2020, Annex 1",
      "url": "https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/pdfuploads/DEMOGRAPHIC%20BULLETIN%202020.pdf",
      "note": "NPC state projections for 2019; PDF pages 13–14, printed pages 9–10. All residents, not ethnicity."
    },
    "jp": {
      "name": "Joshua Project · Yorùbá country entries",
      "url": "https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/16057",
      "note": "Snapshot reviewed 6 October 2026. Mission research database, not a census; individual estimate years are not stated in the country table. Selective coverage and uncertain comparability."
    },
    "ife": {
      "name": "Joshua Project · Ife country entries",
      "url": "https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12184",
      "note": "Separate related Èdè category. Togo 186,000; Ghana 46,000. Snapshot reviewed 6 October 2026."
    },
    "kambole": {
      "name": "Joshua Project · Kambole country entries",
      "url": "https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12472",
      "note": "Togo entry 73,000; Northern Nago. Snapshot reviewed 6 October 2026."
    },
    "benin": {
      "name": "Benin state report to the UN · RGPH-4 (2013)",
      "url": "https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=UfJBB33Y%2BWTPHHnsuZ%2FtRxwzCLTvl49B%2FQx1I7NOEov36hhm208l3n8Vysz4W1yIcTQBcbgA9xs9wUI4rt6QAw%3D%3D",
      "note": "Ethnicity table: Yoruba et apparentés 12.0% nationally; 46.2% in Collines and 68.7% in Plateau. These are 2013 shares."
    },
    "unfpa": {
      "name": "UNFPA · Benin population, 2025",
      "url": "https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population/bj",
      "note": "National population 14.8 million, rounded. Multiplying this by the older 12% share is our scenario, not a UN ethnic estimate."
    },
    "canada": {
      "name": "Statistics Canada · Black populations, 2021, Chart 20",
      "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2024005-eng.htm",
      "note": "30,920 single + 10,820 multiple Yorùbá ethnic/cultural-origin responses = 41,740 within the Black populations studied. A census-based subgroup count, not all Canadian ancestry or a 2026 estimate."
    },
    "ons": {
      "name": "ONS · Census 2021 main language (TS024)",
      "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS024/editions/2021/versions/3?showAll=main_language_detailed",
      "note": "England and Wales, usual residents aged 3+. A language measure, not a UK-wide ancestry count; not added to the country estimate."
    },
    "census": {
      "name": "US Census Bureau · Language use definitions",
      "url": "https://www.census.gov/topics/population/language-use/about.html",
      "note": "Some published tables group Yoruba, Twi, Igbo and other West African languages. A grouped total cannot be presented as Yorùbá alone."
    },
    "falola": {
      "name": "Toyin Falola · Yorùbá Diaspora (Oxford, 2022)",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199846733-0226",
      "note": "Historical orientation to the West African and Atlantic diasporas. Does not establish present-day descendant totals."
    },
    "smithsonian": {
      "name": "Smithsonian Folkways · Across the Ocean, liner notes",
      "url": "https://folkways-media.si.edu/docs/folkways/artwork/HRT15020.pdf",
      "note": "Historical recordings and interpretation of Brazilian, Cuban, Haitian and Trinidadian cultural continuities; not demographic enumeration."
    },
    "iphan": {
      "name": "IPHAN · Yorùbá linguistic community in Brazil",
      "url": "https://indl.iphan.gov.br/comunidade-linguistica/comunidade-linguistica-lingua-yoruba/",
      "note": "Documents cultural and linguistic heritage, including Candomblé da Nação Kétu. Its historical African speaker figure is not used as a current count."
    },
    "ibge": {
      "name": "IBGE · Brazil Census 2022, color or race",
      "url": "https://www.ibge.gov.br/en/statistics/full-list-statistics/22836-2022-census-3.html?edicao=38732",
      "note": "Broad racial categories do not isolate Yorùbá ancestry. No fraction of Brazil’s Black or brown population is automatically assigned here."
    },
    "yif": {
      "name": "Yoruba Indigenes’ Foundation · community network",
      "url": "https://www.yifww.org/about",
      "note": "Lists representatives in China, France, Mali, South Africa and Uganda, among other locations. Evidence of organizational reach, not a population survey."
    },
    "cluster": {
      "name": "Joshua Project · broader “Yoruba cluster”",
      "url": "https://joshuaproject.net/clusters/320",
      "note": "Includes distinct peoples such as Igala and Itsekiri. Its 54.214 million snapshot total is not used as an ethnic Yorùbá total."
    }
  },
  "states": [
    {
      "state": "Lagos",
      "residents_2019": 12772884,
      "context": "Èkó and a cosmopolitan population"
    },
    {
      "state": "Oyo",
      "residents_2019": 7512855,
      "context": "Ìbàdàn, Ọ̀yọ́ and Òkè-Ògùn"
    },
    {
      "state": "Ogun",
      "residents_2019": 5945275,
      "context": "Egba, Ìjẹ̀bú, Remo and Yewa communities"
    },
    {
      "state": "Ondo",
      "residents_2019": 4969707,
      "context": "Oǹdó, Akure, Owo, Akoko and coastal communities"
    },
    {
      "state": "Osun",
      "residents_2019": 4237396,
      "context": "Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Òṣogbo, Ìjẹ̀ṣà and Ìgbómìnà communities"
    },
    {
      "state": "Ekiti",
      "residents_2019": 3350401,
      "context": "Èkìtì towns and kingdoms"
    },
    {
      "state": "Kwara",
      "residents_2019": 3259613,
      "context": "Oró, Edidi, Offa and other communities; multiethnic state"
    },
    {
      "state": "Kogi",
      "residents_2019": 4153734,
      "context": "Okun and other Yorùbá communities; multiethnic state"
    }
  ],
  "country_rows": [
    {
      "place": "Nigeria",
      "region": "Homeland countries",
      "value": 47784000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Entire country; includes Yorùbá outside the southwestern states. Not a territorial Yorùbáland count.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Benin",
      "region": "Homeland countries",
      "value": 1776000,
      "kind": "Derived scenario · 2025",
      "note": "14,800,000 × 12% = 1,776,000. Assumes the 2013 “Yoruba and related” share persists. Replaces, rather than adds to, the narrower Joshua Project Benin entry.",
      "sources": [
        "benin",
        "unfpa"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Togo",
      "region": "Homeland countries",
      "value": 410000,
      "kind": "Combined related categories",
      "note": "151,000 Yoruba + 186,000 Ife + 73,000 Kambole. Treats the source’s separately listed categories as non-overlapping; local identities remain distinct.",
      "sources": [
        "jp",
        "ife",
        "kambole"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Ghana",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 568000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Côte d’Ivoire",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 154000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Niger",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 89000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Burkina Faso",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 85000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Liberia",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 28000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "The Gambia",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 13000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Sierra Leone",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 7100,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Yorùbá country entry; includes communities with differing migration histories.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Ghana · related Ife category",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": 46000,
      "kind": "Related category",
      "note": "Separate source category added once; not part of the 568,000 Yoruba entry in this database.",
      "sources": [
        "ife"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Mali and other West African countries",
      "region": "Other West Africa",
      "value": null,
      "kind": "Not quantified",
      "note": "No comparable count verified for this edition. Mali appears in the community network; absence of a number does not mean absence of people.",
      "sources": [
        "yif"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Equatorial Guinea",
      "region": "Other Africa",
      "value": 88000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selected country entry, not a total for Central Africa.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "South Africa, Uganda and the rest of Africa",
      "region": "Other Africa",
      "value": null,
      "kind": "Not quantified",
      "note": "Community network evidence; no comparable continent-wide remainder verified.",
      "sources": [
        "yif"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "United Kingdom",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": 105000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selective country coverage; not an official ethnic census or a count of migration generations.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Italy",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": 56000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selective country coverage; not an official ethnic census or a count of migration generations.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Ireland",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": 10000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selective country coverage; not an official ethnic census or a count of migration generations.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Greece",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": 5000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selective country coverage; not an official ethnic census or a count of migration generations.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Finland",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": 1200,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selective country coverage; not an official ethnic census or a count of migration generations. Source lists this outside its main total.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Czechia",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": 400,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Selective country coverage; not an official ethnic census or a count of migration generations. Source lists this outside its main total.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "France and the rest of Europe",
      "region": "Europe",
      "value": null,
      "kind": "Not quantified",
      "note": "France is represented in the community network. The subtotal below leaves unmeasured countries unfilled.",
      "sources": [
        "yif"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "United States",
      "region": "Americas · modern entries",
      "value": 205000,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Migration-era ancestry is not separated. Not a count of all African Americans with possible Yorùbá ancestry.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Canada",
      "region": "Americas · modern entries",
      "value": 41740,
      "kind": "Census subgroup · 2021",
      "note": "Yorùbá ethnic/cultural origin among Black populations: 30,920 single + 10,820 multiple responses. Replaces the much smaller mission-database entry.",
      "sources": [
        "canada"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Other recent-migration communities in the Americas",
      "region": "Americas · modern entries",
      "value": null,
      "kind": "Not quantified",
      "note": "No comparable country-by-country remainder verified; separate from the Atlantic ancestry question.",
      "sources": [
        "falola"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "China and the rest of Asia",
      "region": "Asia",
      "value": null,
      "kind": "Not quantified",
      "note": "The network identifies a China representative. This is not enough to estimate China, the Gulf, India or other Asian destinations.",
      "sources": [
        "yif"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "Australia",
      "region": "Oceania",
      "value": 2100,
      "kind": "Compiled estimate",
      "note": "Small-group entry outside the source’s main total. Language and ancestry counts can differ.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    },
    {
      "place": "New Zealand and the rest of Oceania",
      "region": "Oceania",
      "value": null,
      "kind": "Not quantified",
      "note": "No comparable count verified for this edition.",
      "sources": [
        "jp"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "partial_subtotal": 51474540,
  "regional_subtotals": {
    "Homeland countries": 49970000,
    "Other West Africa": 990100,
    "Other Africa": 88000,
    "Europe": 177600,
    "Americas · modern entries": 246740,
    "Asia": null,
    "Oceania": 2100
  },
  "old_diaspora": {
    "Brazil": null,
    "Cuba": null,
    "Haiti": null,
    "Trinidad and Tobago": null,
    "Jamaica": null,
    "United States and other destinations": null
  }
}