Nasarawa State

Nasarawa
State
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  Home of Solid Minerals
Location of Nasarawa State in Nigeria
Coordinates: 8°32′N 8°18′E / 8.533°N 8.300°E / 8.533; 8.300
Country	Nigeria
Date created	1 October 1996
Capital	Lafia
Government
• Body	Government of Nasarawa State
• Governor[2]	Abdullahi Sule (APC)
• Deputy Governor	Emmanuel Akabe (APC)
• Legislature	Nasarawa State House of Assembly
• Senators	N: Godiya Akwashiki (SDP) S: Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (PDP) W: Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (SDP)
• Representatives	List
Area
• Total	26,256 km2 (10,137 sq mi)
• Rank	15
Population  (2006)
• Total	1,869,377[1]
• Estimate  (2022-03-21)	2,886,000
• Rank	30
GDP (PPP)
• Year	2021
• Total	$12.01 billion[3] 30th of 36
• Per capita	$4,099[3] 17th of 36
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)
Postal code	962101
ISO 3166 code	NG-NA
HDI (2022)	0.549[4] low · 23rd of 37
Website	www.nasarawastate.gov.ng

Nasarawa is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by the states of Taraba and Plateau, to the north by Kaduna State, to the south by the states of Benue and Kogi, and to the west by the Federal Capital Territory. Named for the historic Nasarawa Emirate, the state was formed from the west of Plateau State on 1 October 1996.^[5] The state has thirteen local government areas namely, Nasarawa, Toto, Keffi, Karu, Kokona, Akwanga, Wamba, Nasarawa Eggon, Lafia, Obi, Awe, Doma and Keana with its capital in Lafia, located in the east of the state, while a key economic centre of the state is the Karu Urban Area—suburbs of Abuja—along the western border with the FCT.^[6]

Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Nasarawa is the fifteenth largest in area and second least populous with an estimated population of about 2.5 million as of 2016.^[7] Geographically, the state is mostly within the tropical Guinean forest–savanna mosaic ecoregion. Important geographic features include the River Benue forming much of Nasarawa State's southern borders and the state's far northeast containing a small part of the Jos Plateau.

Nasarawa State is inhabited by various ethnic groups, including the Koro and Yeskwa in the far northwest; the Kofyar in the far northeast; the Eggon, Gwandara, Mada, Buh, Ninzo, and Nungu in the north; the Alago, Goemai, and Megili in the east; Eloyi (Ajiri/Afo) in the south; the Tiv in the southeast; the Idoma in southwest; and the Bassa people, Gade and Gbagyi in the west while the Hausa and Fulani live throughout the state. Nasarawa is also religiously diverse with large followers of both Islam and Christianity while followers of Traditional or Native Religions have declined over the years due to convertions to the two Abrahamic religions.

In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Nasarawa State was split up between various states with some states being tiny and village-based as others were part of larger empires until the early 1800s when the Fulani jihad annexed the region and placed the area under the Sokoto Caliphate as the vassal states of Keffi, Lafia, and Nassarawa. In the 1890s and 1900s, British expeditions occupied the area and incorporated it into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. The protectorate later merged into British Nigeria in 1914 before becoming independent as Nigeria in 1960. Originally, modern-day Nasarawa State was a part of the post-independence Northern Region until 1967 when the region was split and the area became part of the Benue-Plateau State. After Benue-Plateau was split in 1976, what is now Nasarawa State became a part of the new Plateau State until 1996 when western Plateau was broken off to form the new Nasarawa State.^[8]

Economically, Nasarawa State is largely based around agriculture, mainly of sesame, soybeans, groundnut, millet, maize, and yam crops. Other key industries are services, especially in urban areas, and the livestock herding and ranching of cattle, goats, and sheep. The state has been beset by violence at various points throughout its history, most notably the ongoing conflict between herders and farmers primarily over land rights.^[9] Despite the conflict, Nasarawa has the nineteenth highest Human Development Index in the country and numerous institutions of tertiary education.^[10]