Kogi State

Kogi
State
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  The Confluence State
Location of Kogi State in Nigeria
Coordinates: 7°30′N 6°42′E / 7.500°N 6.700°E / 7.500; 6.700
Country	Nigeria
Date created	27 August 1991
Capital	Lokoja
Government
• Body	Government of Kogi State
• Governor	Usman Ododo (APC)
• Deputy Governor	Salifu Joel (APC)
• Legislature	Kogi State House of Assembly
• Senators	C: Natasha Akpoti (PDP) E: Jibrin Isah (APC) W: Sunday Karimi (APC)
• Representatives	List
Area
• Total	29,833 km2 (11,519 sq mi)
• Rank	13th of 36
Population  (2006 census)
• Total	3,314,043[1]
• Estimate  (2022)	4,466,800[2]
• Rank	24th of 36
Demonym	Kogite
GDP (PPP)
• Year	2021
• Total	$23.88 billion[3]
• Per capita	$4,593[3]
Time zone	UTC+01 (WAT)
postal code	260001
ISO 3166 code	NG-KO
HDI (2021)	0.557[4] medium · 23rd of 37
Website	www.kogistate.gov.ng

Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria,^[5][6] bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara,^[7][8][9] to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the southwest by the Edo and Ondo states, to the southeast by the states of Anambra and Enugu, and to the east by Benue State. It is the only state in Nigeria to border ten other states. Named for the Hausa word for river (Kogi). Kogi State was formed from parts of Benue State, Niger State, and Kwara State on 27 August 1991.^[10][11][5] The state is nicknamed the "Confluence State" due to the fact that the confluence of the River Niger and the River Benue^[12] occurs next to its capital, Lokoja.^[13][14]

Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kogi is the thirteenth largest in the area and twentieth most populous with an estimated population of about 4.5 million as of 2022.^[15] Geographically, the state is within the tropical Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion. Important geographic features include the key rivers, with the Niger flowing from the northwest and the Benue coming from the northeast before the two rivers meet in Kogi's centereand bisect the state southward.^[16]

Kogi State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, including the Igala, Ebira, Gbagyi, and Nupe (mainly the Bassa Nge, Kakanda, and Kupa subgroups) in the state's center; the Igala (most dominant in the east), Agatu, Basa-Komo and Idoma in the east;^[17] and the Yoruba (mainly the Okun, Ogori, Oworo, and Magongo subgroups) in the west and central.^[18]

In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Kogi State was split up between various states with some states being tiny and village-based as others were part of larger empires like the Nupe Kingdom which held much of now-western Kogi State until the early 1800s when the Fulani jihad annexed the kingdom and placed the area under the Sokoto Caliphate while the Eastern half of the State is the land of the ancient Igala Kingdom. In the 1900s and 1910s, British expeditions occupied the area and incorporated them into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate^[19][20] with its capital as Lokoja until 1903. The protectorate later merged into British Nigeria before becoming independent as Nigeria in 1960. Originally, modern-day Kogi State was a part of the post-independence Northern Region until 1967 when the region was split and the area became part of the North-Western State, Kwara State, and Benue-Plateau State. After Benue-Plateau and the North-Western states were split in 1976, Kogi became a part of the new Benue and Niger states along with Kwara. Western Benue State, southeastern Kwara State, and far southern Niger State were broken off to form the new Kogi State.

Economically, Kogi State is largely based around agriculture, mainly of coffee, cashew, groundnut, cocoa, oil palm, and yam crops. Other key industries are crude oil extraction and the livestock herding of cattle, goats, and sheep.^[21] Kogi has both the 23rd highest Human Development Index and GDP in the country.^[22]