# Fulani People

> The Fulani are a historically pastoralist people found across the West African Sahel from Senegal to Sudan, with the largest single national population in Nigeria. Estimates put their total number across roughly 17 African countries at 25–40 million. Long associated with cattle-herding, Islamic scholarship, and the 19th-century jihad that founded the [[sokoto-caliphate]], contemporary Fulani communities range from nomadic herders to settled urban populations, including many of northern Nigeria's ruling and professional classes.

**Category:** People & Ethnicity · **Updated:** 2026-07-23 00:55:07 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/fulani-people

## Key facts
- **Range:** Sahel belt, Senegal to Sudan, across c. 17 African countries
- **Population estimate:** c. 25–40 million across Africa (c. half in Nigeria, per one estimate)
- **Language:** Fulfulde (Niger-Congo, Atlantic branch)
- **Founding jihad:** 1804–1808, led by Usman dan Fodio; founded the [[sokoto-caliphate]]
- **Social code:** Pulaaku — discipline, modesty, courage, hospitality, self-control
- **Subgroups:** Bororo'en (nomadic), Town Fulani (settled), Torodbe (scholarly clans)
- **Genetic ancestry:** Mixed north and west African ancestry, per 2025 population-genetics study

## Sources
- The Pastoral Nomads of Nigeria — Expedition Magazine, Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania) (https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-pastoral-nomads-of-nigeria/)
- Fulani: new study unravels the genetic history of Africa's largest pastoralist community — The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/fulani-new-study-unravels-the-genetic-history-of-africas-largest-pastoralist-community-251923)
- The Fulani People: Pastoral Heritage, Islam, and Cultural Resilience — Historical Nigeria (https://historicalnigeria.com/traditions-and-heritage-of-the-fulani-people/)
- Nigeria: Usman dan Fodio and the Sokoto Caliphate — Library of Congress Country Studies (Federal Research Division) (https://countrystudies.us/nigeria/9.htm)
- Nigeria: Government failures fuel escalating conflict between farmers and herders as death toll nears 4,000 — Amnesty International (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2018/12/nigeria-government-failures-fuel-escalating-conflict-between-farmers-and-herders-as-death-toll-nears-4000/)

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