Maidaguri

Maiduguri Yerwa
Maiduguri International Hotel
Maiduguri Location in Nigeria
Coordinates: 11°50′N 13°09′E / 11.833°N 13.150°E / 11.833; 13.150
Country	Nigeria
State	Bomo
Elevation	1,050 ft (320 m)
Population (2006 census)
• Total	543,016
	estimate
Climate	BSh

Maiduguri /maɪˈduːɡʊri/, also called Yerwa by its locals, is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the Firki swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maiduguri was founded in 1907 as a military outpost by the British and has since grown rapidly with a population exceeding a million by 2007.

The region was home to the Kanem-Bornu Empire for centuries. Maiduguri actually consists of two cities: Yerwa to the West and Old Maiduguri to the east. Old Maiduguri was selected by the British as their military headquarters while Yerwa was selected at approximately the same time by Shehu Abubakar Garbai of Borno to replace Kukawa as the new traditional capital of the Kanuri people.

Maiduguri is one of the sixteen LGAs that constitute the Borno Emirate, a traditional state located in Borno State, Nigeria.

Since the mid-1960s, Maiduguri has witnessed outbreaks of large inter-religious riots. Members of religious sects led intercommunal violence in 1982 and 2001.

On 18 February 2006, riots related to the Muhammad cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten left at least 15 people dead, and resulted in the destruction of approximately 12 churches. Soldiers and police quelled the riots, and the government temporarily imposed a curfew.