User:Ikale Land/sandbox

Yorubaland (Ilẹ̀ Yorùbá) is the cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km2 or about the same size as the combined land areas of Greece and Montenegro, of which 106,016 km2 (74.6%) lies within Nigeria, 18.9% in Benin, and the remaining 6.5% is in Togo. The geocultural space contains an estimated 55 million people, the overwhelming majority of this population being ethnic Yorubas.

Geography
Geophysically, Yorubaland spreads north from the Gulf of Guinea and west from the Niger River into Benin and Togo. In the northern section, Yorubaland begins in the suburbs just west of Lokoja and continues unbroken up to the Ogou River tributary of the Mono River in Togo, a distance of around 610 km. In the south, it begins in an area just west of the Benin river occupied by the Ilaje Yorubas and continues uninterrupted up to Porto Novo, a total distance of about 270 km as the crow flies. West of Porto Novo Gbe speakers begin to predominate. The northern section is thus more expansive than the southern coastal section.

The land is characterised by mangrove forests, estuaries and coastal plains in the south, which rise steadily northwards into rolling hills and a jagged highland region in the interior, commonly known as the Yorubaland plateau or Western upland. The highlands are pronounced in the Ekiti area of the region, especially around the Effon ridge and the Okemesi fold belt, which have heights in excess of 732m (2,400 ft) and are characterized by numerous waterfalls and springs such as Olumirin waterfall, Arinta waterfall, and Effon waterfall. The highest elevation is found at the Idanre Inselberg Hills, which have heights in excess of 1,050 meters. In general, the landscape of the interior is undulating land with occasional inselbergs jutting out dramatically from the surrounding rolling landscape. Some include: Okeagbe hills: 790m, Olosunta in Ikere Ekiti: 690m, Shaki inselbergs, and Igbeti hill.

With coastal plains, southern lowlands, and interior highlands, Yorubaland has several large rivers and streams that crisscross the terrain. These rivers flow in two general directions within the Yoruba country; southwards into the lagoons and creeks which empty into the Atlantic ocean, and northwards into the Niger river. The Osun River which empties into the Lekki Lagoon, the Ogun River which empties into the Lagos Lagoon, Mono River, Oba River, Owena river, Erinle River, Yewa River which discharges into the Badagry creek, Okpara River which drains into the Porto-Novo lagoon, Ouémé River, Ero river between Ekiti State and Kwara State, among numerous others. Others such as the Moshi river, Oshin and Oyi flow towards the Niger (north).

The Nigerian part of Yorubaland comprises today's Ọyọ, Ọs&#x323;un, Ogun, Kwara, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos as well as parts of Kogi. The Beninese portion consists of Ouémé department, Plateau Department, Collines Department, Tchaourou commune of Borgou Department, Bassila commune of Donga Department, Ouinhi and Zogbodomey commune of Zou Department, and  Kandi commune of Alibori Department. The Togolese portions are the Ogou and Est-Mono prefectures in Plateaux Region, and the Tchamba prefecture in Centrale Region.