Kogi | |
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State | |
Nickname(s): The Confluence State | |
Location of Kogi State in Nigeria |
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Coordinates: 7°30′N 6°42′E / 7.500°N 6.700°ECoordinates: 7°30′N 6°42′E / 7.500°N 6.700°E | |
Country | Nigeria |
Date created | 27 August 1991 |
Capital | Lokoja |
Government | |
• Governor | Yahaya Bello (APC) |
• Senators | Dino Melaiye |
Area | |
• Total | 29,833 km2 (11,519 sq mi) |
Area rank | 13th of 36 |
Population (1991 census) | |
• Total | 2,099,046 |
• Estimate (2005) | 3,595,796 |
• Rank | 24th of 36 |
• Density | 70/km2 (180/sq mi) |
Demonym(s) | Kogite |
GDP (PPP) | |
• Year | 2007 |
• Total | $4.64 million |
• Per capita | $1,386 |
Time zone | WAT (UTC+01) |
ISO 3166 code | NG-KO |
Kogi is a state in the central region of Nigeria. It is popularly called the Confluence State because the confluence of River Niger and River Benue is at its capital, Lokoja, which is the first administrative capital of modern-day Nigeria.
Agriculture is a main part of the economy, and the state also has coal, steel and other mineral industries.
The main ethnic groups are Igala, Ebira, and Okun.
Kogi state is the only state in Nigeria which shares a boundary with ten other states.
The state was created in 1991 from parts of Kwara State and Benue State. The state as presently constituted, comprises the people of the Kabba Province of Northern Nigeria. One of the first Qadi in the Kogi State was Faruk Imam.
There are three main ethnic groups and languages in Kogi: Igala, Ebira, and Okun (a Yoruba Group) with other such as Bassa-Nge, a people of Nupe extraction in Lokoja and Bassa Local Government Area, Bassa-Komo of Bassa Local Government Area,the Ogugu subgroup of the Igala, Gwari, Kakanda, Oworo people(A Yoruba Group), Ogori, Magongo, Idoma and the Eggan community under Lokoja Local Government.
The name , was coined in Lokoja by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, while gazing out at the river Niger .