South West (Nigeria)

South West
Country	Nigeria
States	Ekiti State Lagos State Ogun State Ondo State Osun State Oyo State
Largest city	Lagos
Major cities	Ibadan Ogbomosho Ikorodu Akure Abeokuta Oyo Ifẹ Ondo City Ado Ekiti Ijebu Ode Sagamu Badagry Ilesa Obafemi Owode Owo (Osogbo)
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)
Major languages	French English Ewe Gun Hausa Igbo Itsekiri Izon Nigerian Sign Language Yoruba

The South West (often hyphenated to the South-West) is the one of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria representing both a geographic and political region of the country's southwest. It comprises six states — Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo.^[1][2] It makes up part of Yorubaland in Nigeria, with Kwara and parts of Kogi completing it.

The zone stretches along the Atlantic seaboard from the international border with Benin Republic in the west to the South South in the east with the North Central to the north. The South West is split with the Central African mangroves in the coastal far south while the major inland ecoregions are the Nigerian lowland forests ecoregion in the south and east along with the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion in the drier northwest. The weather conditions vary between Nigeria's two, distinctive seasons; the rainy season (March - November) and the dry season named the Harmattan (from November - February). The Harmattan is a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind (of the same name), which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea.^[3] During this season, the wind transports the eponymous Harmattan dust, particles of fine Saharan sand.^[2]

Culturally, the vast majority of the zone falls within Yorubaland–the indigenous cultural homeland of the Yoruba people, a group which makes up the largest ethnic percentage of the southwestern population.

Economically, the South West's urban areas–mainly the cities of Lagos and Ibadan–contributes greatly to the Nigerian economy while rural areas lag behind. The region has a population of over 50 million people, more than 22% of the total population of the country. Lagos is the most populous city in the South West as well as the most populous city in Nigeria and also the most populous city in Africa. The metropolis and its inner suburbs, together called the Lagos Metropolis Area, form the eighth largest metropolitan area in the world with about 21 million people; other large southwestern cities include (in order by population) Ibadan, Ogbomosho, Ikorodu, Akure, Abeokuta, Oyo, Ifẹ, Ondo City, Ado Ekiti, Iseyin, Sagamu, Badagry, Ilesa, Obafemi Owode, Osogbo, Eruwa, Ikare and Owo.