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Igbo (People)The Igbo are a group of people living in what is now Nigeria. Their language is also called Igbo. Before the arrival of Europeans, the sense of a distinct cultural identity among the Igbo was much more diffuse, and the Europeans considered them among the more backward of Nigeria's ethnic groups. The Igbo did not have a centralized system of government, and lived in small, autonomous communities. The arrival of the British in the 1870s, and increased encounter between the Igbo and other Nigerians led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity. The Igbo also proved remarkably decisive and enthusiastic in their embrace of Christianity and Western education. Under British colonial rule, the diversity within Nigeria's major ethnic groups slowly decreased and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups, such as the Hausa and the Yoruba became sharper. In 1966, political troubles in Nigeria led to a pogrom in which tens of thousands of Igbo died, especially in Northern Nigeria. Probably as many as two million Igbo people fled from other parts of Nigeria, returning to their ancestral homes in the Eastern Region. The crisis reached an apex in May 1967 with the secession of the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region from Nigeria to form the Republic of Biafra, which lasted only until January 1970. Author Chinua Achebe focuses on the culture in his best-selling novel, Things Fall Apart. Their language also relies heavily on the usage of idioms and metaphors in everyday speech. See also: Igbo mythology
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