The Hausa are a people of northern Nigeria and south-eastern Niger. They speak the Hausa language.

Hausa are an ancient culture that had an extensive coverage area, and long ties to the Arabs. The Hausa have been Muslim since the 14th century, and have converted many other Nigerian tribes to the Muslim faith.

From the sixteenth to start of the nineteenth century the Hausa federation, a loose union of city states were an important regional power. They were defeated in 1810 by Usman dan Fodio and incorporated into the Fulani Empire.