Badagry

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Badagry Àgbádárìgì
Town
A chair market at Badagry in 1910
Badagry shown within the State of Lagos
Badagry Location of Badagry in Nigeria
Coordinates: 6°25′N 2°53′E / 6.417°N 2.883°E / 6.417; 2.883
Country	Nigeria
State	Lagos State
LGA	Badagry
Area
• Total	170 sq mi (441 km2)
Population  (2006)
• Total	241,093
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)
National language	Yorùbá, Gungbe
Website	www.badagrygov.org

Badagry, also spelled Badagri,^[1] (Gun: Gbagli) is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that connects Lagos (Nigeria's largest city and economic capital) to the Beninese capital of Porto-Novo. The same route connects Lagos, Ilaro, and Porto-Novo, and shares a border with the Republic of Benin. As of the preliminary 2006 census results, the municipality had a population of 241,093.^[2]

Serving as a lagoon and an Atlantic port, Badagry emerged as a commercial center on the West African coast between 1736 and 1851.^[3] Its connecting and navigable lakes, creeks and inland lagoons acted as a means to facilitate trade and as a security bar for residents. During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the town was a middleman between European traders on the coast and traders from the hinterland.^[4]