Lagos

Lagos is Nigeria's smallest state by land area but its most populous and economically significant, functioning as the country's commercial and financial capital. Located on the Atlantic coast in the south-west, it grew from a cluster of fishing and trading settlements on Lagos Island into a sprawling metropolis spanning the mainland and lagoon islands. It was Nigeria's federal capital until 12 December 1991, when the seat of government moved to Abuja, but Lagos has continued to expand as the nucleus of banking, manufacturing, media, entertainment and the country's busiest seaports and airport. The population, drawn from across Nigeria and beyond, is predominantly Yoruba in indigenous character but heavily cosmopolitan. Lagos State was created in 1967, with Ikeja as its administrative capital, and today its urban conurbation is often referred to informally as "Lagos city".

The area around Lagos was settled by Awori Yoruba communities and later came under the influence of the Benin Kingdom, whose representatives helped establish a ruling dynasty on Lagos Island, known locally as Eko. From the sixteenth century the port attracted Portuguese traders, who gave the settlement its name, "Lagos", after a town in Portugal, and it subsequently became a hub of transatlantic trade, including the slave trade. In 1861 the British annexed Lagos as a colony, using it as a base to extend control over the surrounding territory, and it later became the capital of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Lagos remained the federal capital after independence in 1960 and through the early military era, hosting national government institutions until the formal transfer of the seat of government to Abuja on 12 December 1991. Lagos State itself was carved out in 1967 from the former Western Region, combining Lagos city with Ikeja and other mainland districts.

Lagos State occupies a narrow strip of land along the Gulf of Guinea in south-western Nigeria, bordered by Ogun State to the north and east and by the Republic of Benin to the west. Much of the state sits on low-lying coastal plain interlaced with lagoons, creeks and barrier islands, including the Lagos Lagoon and Lekki Lagoon, which together cover a substantial share of the state's total area. Lagos Island, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki lie on reclaimed or naturally raised land along the lagoon system, while the mainland districts, including Ikeja, Surulere and Agege, occupy firmer ground. The climate is tropical and humid, with a lengthy rainy season from April to October. Rapid urbanisation has placed pressure on the state's wetlands and drainage systems, and coastal erosion and flooding are recurring concerns along the Atlantic shoreline and lagoon fringes.

Lagos generates a substantial share of Nigeria's non-oil economic activity and hosts the headquarters of most major Nigerian banks, telecommunications firms and manufacturing companies. The state contains the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, through which a large proportion of the country's imports and exports pass, and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the country's busiest air gateway. Nollywood, Nigeria's film industry, is centred in Lagos, alongside a large advertising, fashion and music sector. Informal trade and small enterprises employ a substantial portion of the workforce, particularly in markets such as Balogun and Alaba. The Lekki Free Trade Zone and the Dangote Refinery, on the Lagos coastline, represent large-scale industrial investment aimed at petrochemicals and manufacturing. The state government has invested in bus rapid transit and a light rail system to address chronic traffic congestion.