States of Nigeria

The 36 federal states of Nigeria are the highest administrative unit of the West African Federal Republic of Nigeria . Each state has its own government, headed by a directly elected governor, and its own state parliament. Below the state level there are 774 subordinate Local Government Areas .

Table overview

The table lists the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory around the capital Abuja alphabetically, sortable by area, population and capital. The population figures refer to the censuses (VZ) of November 26, 1991 and March 21, 2006 as well as estimates for 2015 based on the results of the 2006 census.

Map of the states of Nigeria

Population density of Nigeria

(VZ = census) (estimate = estimate)

State	Area in km²	VZ 1991	VZ 2006	Sch. 2015	Capital
Abia	6.320	2,338,487	2,833,999	3,622,900	Umuahia
Adamawa	36,917	2,102,053	3,168,101	4,120,200	Yola
Akwa Ibom	7,081	2,409,613	3,920,208	5,286,900	Uyo
Anambra	4,844	2,796,475	4,182,032	5,366,900	Awka
Bauchi	45,837	2,861,887	4,676,465	6,304,500	Bauchi
Bayelsa	10,773	1,121,693	1,703,358	2,209,200	Yenagoa
Need	34,059	2,753,077	4,219,244	5,562,400	Makurdi
Borno	70,898	2,536,003	4,151,193	5,651,500	Maiduguri
Cross River	20,156	1,911,297	2,888,966	3,749,600	Calabar
delta	17,698	2,590,491	4,098,391	5,474,000	Asaba
Ebonyi	5,670	1,029,312	2,173,501	2,796,500	Abakaliki
Edo	17.802	2,172,005	3,218,332	4,116,900	Benin city
Ekiti	6,353	1,535,790	2,384,212	3,165,000	Ado Ekiti
Enugu	7.161	2,125,068	3,257,298	4,273,200	Enugu
Federal Capital Territory	7,315	371.674	1,405,201	3,195,100	Abuja
Gombe	18,768	1,489,120	2,353,879	3,148,100	Gombe
Imo	5,530	2,485,635	3,934,899	5,227,900	Owerri
Jigawa	23,154	2,875,525	4,348,649	5,652,200	Dutse
Kaduna	46.053	3,935,618	6,066,562	7,994,400	Kaduna
Kano	20,131	5,810,470	9,383,682	12,625,500	Kano
Katsina	24.192	3,753,133	5,792,578	7,586,500	Katsina
Kebbi	36,800	2,068,490	3,238,628	4,296,400	Birnin Kebbi
Kogi	29,833	2,147,756	3,278,487	4,333,600	Lokoja
Kwara	36,825	1,548,412	2,371,089	3,093,100	Ilorin
Lagos	3,345	5,725,116	9,013,534	12,131,000	Ikeja
Nassarawa	27,117	1,207,876	1,863,275	2,444,500	Lafia
Niger	76,363	2,421,581	3,950,249	5,358,400	Minna
Ogun	16,762	2,333,726	3,728,098	5,037,600	Abeokuta
Ondo	14,606	2,249,548	3,441,024	4,525,600	Akure
Osun	9,251	2,158,143	3,423,535	4,548,300	Oshogbo
Oyo	28,454	3,452,720	5,591,589	7,561,600	Ibadan
plateau	30,913	2,104,536	3,178,712	4,082,700	Jos
Rivers	11,077	3,187,844	5,185,400	7,043,800	Port Harcourt
Sokoto	25,973	2,418,585	3,696,999	4,841,800	Sokoto
Taraba	54,473	1,512,163	2,300,736	2,974,300	Jalingo
Yobe	45.502	1,399,687	2,321,591	3,173,200	Damaturu
Zamfara	39,762	2,051,591	3,259,846	4,364,500	Gusau
Nigeria	923,768	88.992.220	140.003.542	186,939,800	Abuja

State history

As a colony, Nigeria was divided into a Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and a Protectorate of Southern Nigeria , later divided into a Northern, an Eastern and a Western province and Lagos . After independence in 1960, these provinces were renamed regions.

A territorial reform passed in May 1967, which divided Nigeria into twelve federal states, was one of the triggers of the Biafra War , i.e. the secession of the former eastern province of Biafra, since Nigeria's petroleum regions were withdrawn from the Igbo's access through the new borders .

Federal states have existed since 1967 - initially there were 12, from 1976 19, from 1987 21, from 1991 30 and since 1996 the country has been divided into 36 federal states.

The territorial development of the states: