The Nupe (traditionally called the Nufawa by the Hausas and Tapa by the neighbouring Yoruba) are an ethnic group native to North Central Nigeria.

Nupe is the largest ethnic group in the Middle Belt, they are at the heart of Nigerian art and culture.

Du Bois wrote that Nupe trade may have extended as far as Sofala and the Byzantine Empire, with the latter of which, according to what he termed "credible legend", there was even an exchange of embassies.

Many practices have changed as a result of the movements started by Sokoto jihad of the 19th century, but they still hold on to some of their culture.

Many Nupe people often have tribal marks on their faces, some to identify their prestige and the family of which they belong as well as for protection, and adornment as jewellery.

[10][page needed] The Nupe were described in detail by the ethnographer Siegfried Nadel, whose book, Black Byzantium, remains an anthropological classic.