Kogi State

Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, 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 states of Edo and Ondo, 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, the state was formed from parts of Benue State, Niger State, and Kwara State on 27 August 1991. The state is nicknamed the "Confluence State" as the confluence of the River Niger and the River Benue occurs next to its capital, Lokoja. Of the 36 states of Nigeria, Kogi is the thirteenth largest in area and twentieth most populous with an estimated population of about 4.5 million as of 2016. 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 center and bisect the state southward. Kogi State has been inhabited for years by various ethnic groups, including the Ebira, Gbagyi, Nupe (mainly the Bassa Nge, Kakanda, and Kupa subgroups), and Oko in the state's centre; the Igala and Bassa in the east; and the Yoruba (mainly the Okun, Ogori, Oworo, and Magongo subgroups) in the west. Kogi is also religiously diverse, with about equal percentages of Christians and Muslims along with a substantial minority of adherents of traditional ethnic religions. In the pre-colonial period, the area that is now Kogi State was split up between various states with some states being...