Lagos State
Lagos is a state in Nigeria's South West geopolitical zone.
- Capital
- Ikeja
- Population
- 21M
- Total area
- 3,678 km²
- LGAs
- 20
- House Reps (total)
- 24
- IGR (2024)
- ₦1.26T
- Capital
- Ikeja
- Population
- 21M
- 2023 estimate
- Land area
- 3,678 km²
- LGAs
- 20
- Senate seats
- 3
- IGR (2024)
- ₦1.26T
- internally generated revenue
Sub-national administrative units
Local government areas (20)
20 constitutional tier-3 units
Geopolitical synthesis
Lagos in the federation
Lagos is a state in Nigeria's South West geopolitical zone.
Bordering territories & maritime boundaries
- Land bordersOgun
- Southern littoralAtlantic Ocean
- International borderRepublic of Benin
Quick facts
- Date created
- 1967
- Known as
- Centre of Excellence
- Population
- ~21,000,000
- Climate classification
- Tropical Wet & Dry (Aw)
- LGAs
- 20
- Distance to Abuja
- 488 km
Languages, stories and places to explore
Languages spoken
Major cities
Lagos Island · Ikeja · Lekki · Surulere
What to explore · learn
Lagos's nickname reflects its status as Nigeria's commercial and cultural capital, though no longer the political capital since 1991.
Lagos was Nigeria's federal capital from independence in 1960 until Abuja formally took over in 1991.
Lagos is widely regarded as Africa's most populous urban agglomeration, with a metropolitan population estimated well above 15 million.
Lagos Island's white-robed Eyo masquerades parade through the streets, traditionally staged to mark the passing of an important Lagosian and for major ceremonial occasions. The main Eyo groups are Adimu, Laba, Oniko, Ologede and Agere.
irregularLagos IslandZangbeto are straw-cloaked spirit figures of the Egun people, believed to guard communities at night and whose spinning dance is a signature performance in Badagry and across the Benin border.
BadagryThe Oba of Lagos rules from the Iga Idunganran palace on Lagos Island alongside the Idejo (White Cap) chiefs, the land-owning chiefly houses of old Eko.
Lagos IslandBadagry was a major slave-trade port, and its heritage sites include the Point of No Return and historic missionary buildings.
Badagry
Cultural groups & homelands
Awori
5 LGAsAwori Yoruba sub-group of Lagos and south-western Ogun, indigenous to much of the Lagos mainland and Ota.
Eko (Lagos Island and Mainland)
3 LGAsHistoric core of Lagos: the Eko settlement, seat of the Oba of Lagos and the Idejo (White Cap) chieftaincy, with Awori and returnee-descended communities.
Lagos Ijebu (Ikorodu, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki)
3 LGAsIjebu-related lagoon-side communities in the eastern non-metropolitan part of Lagos State; Awori communities are also present in Ibeju-Lekki.
Egun (Badagry)
1 LGAEgun (Gun/Ogu) coastal people of Badagry, a community that continues across the border into Benin Republic; Badagry was a major slave-trade port.
Major celebrations
- irregularLagos Island
Cultural institutions
The Oba of Lagos rules from the Iga Idunganran palace on Lagos Island alongside the Idejo (White Cap) chiefs, the land-owning chiefly houses of old Eko.
Lagos Island
Metro areas
Lagos Metropolis
The sixteen metropolitan LGAs of Lagos State, Nigeria's largest city and commercial capital, built around the historic Eko settlement on Lagos Island and its lagoon-side mainland.