Tiv

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Tiv

(also Munshi), a people inhabiting a sizable area along both banks of the Benue River in central Nigeria. The Tiv number approximately 2 million (1975, estimate), with 95 percent living in the states of Benue and Plateau. Their language belongs to the Eastern Bantoid group. In addition to traditional religious beliefs such as ancestor worship and various nature cults, the Tiv practice Islam and Christianity. Their primary occupation is agriculture, the chief crops being yams, millet, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cotton, rice, and soybeans. There is growing seasonal migration, and an increasing number of Tiv are working for wages.