Lagos

This article is about the city, officially known as Lagos Metropolitan Area. For other uses, see Lagos (disambiguation).
"Èkó" redirects here. For the song, see Èkó (song).
Not to be confused with Legos or Laos.

Lagos
Èkó (Yoruba)
Metropolis
Lagos Island skyline
Civic Tower
Tinubu Square
Lekki–Epe Expressway
National Arts Theatre
Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge
Cathedral Church of Christ
Nickname(s): 
Eko akete, Lasgidi[3][4]
Motto(s): 
Èkó ò ní bàjẹ́! (Yoruba, literally, "Lagos will not spoil!"; colloquially, "Lagos will prevail!")
Lagos shown within the State of Lagos
Lagos shown within the State of Lagos
Lagos is located in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos
Location of Lagos in Nigeria
Lagos is located in Nigeria
Lagos
Lagos
Lagos (Nigeria)
Lagos is located in Africa
Lagos
Lagos
Lagos (Africa)
Coordinates: 6°27′18″N 3°23′03″E / 6.455027°N 3.384082°E / 6.455027; 3.384082
Country Nigeria
StateLagos
LGA(s)[note 1]
List of LGAs
Settled15th century
Founded byAwori subgroup of the Yoruba[5]
Government
 • Governor of LagosBabajide Sanwo-Olu
 • Deputy GovernorFemi Hamzat
 • Supreme JudgeKazeem Alogba
 • ObaRilwan Akiolu
Area
[1]
 • Metropolis
1,171.28 km2 (452.23 sq mi)
 • Land999.6 km2 (385.9 sq mi)
 • Water171.68 km2 (66.29 sq mi)
 • Urban
907 km2 (350 sq mi)
 • Metro
2,706.7 km2 (1,045.1 sq mi)
Elevation
41 m (135 ft)
Population
 (2006 census)[note 1]
 • Metropolis
8,048,430
 • Estimate 
(2018 by LASG[6])
16,437,435
 • Rank1st
 • Density6,871/km2 (17,800/sq mi)
 • Urban
16,637,000[7]
 • Urban density14,469/km2 (37,470/sq mi)
 • Metro
21,000,000 (estimated)[6]
 • Metro density7,759/km2 (20,100/sq mi)
DemonymLagosian
GDP
[8]
 • Metropolis₦ 41.2 trillion(2021)
US$ 87billions (2024)
 • Per capitaUS$ 6,600 (2021)
Time zoneUTC+1
Area code010[9]
ClimateAw
  1. ^ Only Ikoyi-Obalande and Iru-Victoria Island LCDAs

Lagos (/ˈleɪɡɒs/ LAY-goss;[10][11] also US: /ˈlɑːɡoʊs/ LAH-gohss;[11][12] Yoruba: Èkó), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimate of 21 million, it is the largest city in Nigeria, and the most populous urban area on the African continent.[13][14][15][16] [17] Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until the government's December 1991 decision to move their capital to Abuja in the centre of the country.[18][19][20] Lagos is a major African financial centre and is the economic hub of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. The city has a significant influence on commerce, entertainment, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, and fashion in Africa. Lagos is also among the top ten of the world's fastest-growing cities and urban areas.[28][29] In 2024, Time Out magazine ranked Lagos as the 19th Best City to visit in the World. A megacity, it has the fourth-highest GDP in Africa,[2][30] and houses one of the largest and busiest seaports on the continent.[31][32][33] Due to the large urban population and port traffic volumes, Lagos is classified as a Medium-Port Megacity.[34]

Lagos emerged as a home to the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba of West Africa islands in the 15th century, which are contained in the present-day Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Amuwo-Odofin and Apapa. Before 15th century, the Awori settled on a Farmstead along the coastal line in which they worked and lived in and around their Farmstead which translates to Ereko in Yoruba, which formed the Lagos indigenous name “Eko”. The lands are separated by creeks, fringing the southwest mouth of Lagos Lagoon, while being protected from the Atlantic Ocean by barrier islands and long sand spits such as Bar Beach, which stretch up to 100 km (62 mi) east and west of the mouth. Due to rapid urbanisation, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present day Lagos Mainland, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, and Surulere. This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas: the Island, which was the original city of Lagos, and the Mainland, which it has since expanded into.[35] This city area was governed directly by the Federal Government through the Lagos City Council, until the creation of Lagos State in 1967, which led to the splitting of Lagos city into the present-day seven Local Government Areas (LGAs), and an addition of other towns (which now make up 13 LGAs) from the then Western Region to form the state.[36]

However, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in 1976,[37] and the federal capital moved to Abuja in 1991. Even though Lagos is still widely referred to as a city, the present-day Lagos, also known as "Metropolitan Lagos", and officially as "Lagos Metropolitan Area"[38][39][40] is an urban agglomeration or conurbation,[41] consisting of 16 LGAs including Ikeja, the state capital of Lagos State.[2][42] This conurbation makes up 37% of Lagos State total land area, but houses about 85% of the state's total population.[2][36][43]

The population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed.[44] In the 2006 federal census data, the conurbation had a population of about 9 million people.[45] However, the figure was disputed by the Lagos State Government, which later released its own population data, putting the population of Lagos Metropolitan Area at approximately 16 million.[note 1] Daily, the Lagos area is growing by some 3,000 people or around 1.1 million annually, so the true population figure of the greater Lagos area in 2022 is roughly 28 million (up from some 23.5 million in 2018). Lagos may therefore have overtaken Kinshasa as Africa's most populous city. As of 2015, unofficial figures put the population of "Greater Metropolitan Lagos", which includes Lagos and its surrounding metro area, extending as far as into Ogun State, at approximately 21 million.[1][36][46][47] The Lagos conurbation is part of an emerging transnational megalopolis on the coast of West Africa that includes areas in five sovereign states, the Abidjan–Lagos Corridor.[48][49]

The University of Lagos is one of the first generation universities of Nigeria. The business district of Lagos is home to Tinubu Square, named after the aristocratic slave trader Efunroye Tinubu. Lagos contains Murtala Muhammed International Airport, named after Murtala Muhammad, one of the former Nigerian presidents; the airport is one of the busiest African airports. Lagos National Stadium has hosted various international sports events such as the 1980 African Cup of Nations.

  1. ^ a b c "Metro Lagos (Nigeria): Local Government Areas". City Population. 21 March 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Lagos and Its Potentials for Economic Growth". 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  3. ^ "18th National Sports Festival: Lagos unveils Logo, mascot and website". Premium Times. Abuja, Nigeria. 18 June 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  4. ^ "Eko 2012: Building Branding through Sports, Articles". ThisDay. Lagos, Nigeria. 22 August 2012. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  5. ^ Hutchison, Ray (2009). Encyclopedia of Urban Studies. SAGE. p. 427. ISBN 978-1-412-9143-21.
  6. ^ a b Lagos Bureau of Statistics. "2019 Abstract of Local Government Statistics" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  7. ^ Demographia (January 2015). Demographia World Urban Areas (PDF) (11th ed.). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  8. ^ Okeowo, Gabriel; Fatoba, Iyanuoluwa, eds. (13 October 2022). "State of States 2022 Edition" (PDF). Budgit.org. BudgIT. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  9. ^ Williams, Lizzie (2008). Bradt Travel Guides (3rd ed.). Paperback. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-8416-2397-9. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  10. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  11. ^ a b "Lagos". merriam-webster.com.
  12. ^ Wells, John C.; Davidson, Lhinton (2014). Sounds interesting: observations on English and general phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-107-07470-5.
  13. ^ "Objections Surface Over Nigerian Census Results". Population Reference Bureau. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Lagos now wears a new look". Renewal. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
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  16. ^ Ogunbiyi, Tayo (5 January 2023). "Lagos and the 2023 Census". Vanguard. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  17. ^ Bearak, Max; Moriarty, Dylan; Ledur, Júlia. "Africa's rising cities". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
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  32. ^ Rajewski, Brian (1998). Africa, Volume 1 of Cities of the World: a compilation of current information on cultural, geographical, and political conditions in the countries and cities of six continents, based on the Department of State's "post reports". Gale Research International, Limited. ISBN 978-0-810-3769-22.
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  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference Metropolitan_Lagos_population was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ "Population". Lagos State Government. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  47. ^ Pacetti, M.; Passerini, G.; Brebbia, C.A.; Latini, G. (2012). The Sustainable City VII: Urban Regeneration and Sustainability. WIT Press. ISBN 978-1-84564-578-6.
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