Jos

Jos
Jos and Bukuru Metropolis
Hill in the northeastern part of Jos
Hill in the northeastern part of Jos
Nickname: 
J-Town
Jos is located in Nigeria
Jos
Jos
Location in Nigeria
Coordinates: 09°55′00″N 08°53′25″E / 9.91667°N 8.89028°E / 9.91667; 8.89028
CountryNigeria
StatePlateau State
Government
 • TypeTraditional Monarchy (Jos Joint Traditional Council of Chiefs)
 • Gbong Gwom Jos (Head of Jos Joint Traditional Council of Chiefs [Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Jos-South, Jos-North] & Plateau State Traditional Council of Chiefs, concurrently)Jacob Gyang Buba (incumbent)
Elevation
1,220 m (4,000 ft)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total622,802
 • Rank6th
GDP (PPP, 2015 int. Dollar)
 • Year2023
 • Total$6.3 billion[1]
 • Per capita$6,500
Time zoneGMT+1
ClimateAw

Jos /ˈɔːs/ is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census.[2] Popularly called "J-Town",[3] it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situated on the Jos plateau which is embedded in the Guinea Savannah of North-Central Nigeria. It connects most of the North-Eastern capitals to the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, by road. Driving in and out of Jos, traffic encounters very steep sloppy bends and mountainous sceneries typical of the plateau landform. The name of the state (Plateau State) was coined from its affiliation to this landform.

During British colonial rule, Jos became an important centre for tin mining when the colonialists discovered huge deposits of cassiterite, the main ore for the metal. It is also the trading hub of the state as commercial activities are steadily increasing.

  1. ^ "TelluBase—Nigeria Fact Sheet (Tellusant Public Service Series)" (PDF). Tellusant. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  2. ^ "FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA : 2006 Population Census" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  3. ^ "j-town". naijalingo.com. Retrieved 2024-07-05.