The following are lists of the most populous fully defined incorporated settlements in Nigeria by population. This page consists of three different tables, with different kinds of settlements; a list for "defined cities", listing the population, strictly within the defined city limits, a list for "urban area" population, and another list for the population within metropolitan areas.

Lists

Defined cities/towns Nigerian cities are categorized into three types; there is the "Metropolis", which is characterized by having more than one Local Government Areas (LGAs). These types of cities are usually formed when large municipalities are split into smaller LGAs, to aid efficient administration and management, when small towns grow and merge into existing large cities, or both; some are also formed when urban areas of multiple LGAs merge as a result of growth and are now fully defined as a single settlement, Another type of settlement is the "Municipality", which is basically an LGA that is fully defined as its own city or town. These types of cities are usually mid-sized, although some large cities also exist as a single LGA. The third type of settlement is the "village", which is basically grouped together with several other villages into one sizeable LGA.

The following table lists fully defined incorporated cities in Nigeria, with a population of at least 100,000, as declared by the Nigerian National Population Commission after the 2006 National census. This list refers only to the population of individual cities within their defined limits, which does not include other distinct communities or extended suburban areas within urban agglomerations. A city is displayed in bold if it is a state or federal capital, and in italics if it is the most populous city in the state.

Rank City State 2006 census Total area Population density per per 1 Lagos Lagos 7,099,490 2 Kano Kano 2,828,861 3 Ibadan Oyo 2,559,853 4 Benin City Edo 1,147,188 5 Port Harcourt Rivers 1,005,904 6 Aba Abia 1,002,265 7 Jos Plateau 821,618 8 Ilorin Kwara 777,667 9 Abuja FCT 776,298 10Kaduna Kaduna 760,084 11 Enugu Enugu 722,664 12 Zaria Kaduna 695,089 13 Ogbomosho Oyo 602,690 14 Warri Delta 557,398 15 Ikorodu Lagos 535,619 16 Maiduguri Borno 521,492 17 Ife Osun 509,035 18 Bauchi Bauchi 493,810 19 Akure Ondo 484,798 20 Abeokuta Ogun 451,607 21 Uyo Akwa Ibom 436,606 22 Oyo Oyo 428,798 23 Sokoto Sokoto 427,760 24 Owerri Imo 401,873 25 Yola Adamawa 392,854 26 Calabar Cross River 371,022 27 Umuahia Abia 359,230 28 Ondo Ondo 358,430 29 Minna Niger 348,788 30 Lafia Nasarawa 330,712 31 Okene Kogi 320,260 32 Katsina Katsina 318,459 - Ikeja Lagos 313,196 33 Nsukka Enugu 309,633 34 Ado Ekiti Ekiti 308,621 35 Awka Anambra 301,657 36 Iseyin Oyo 286,700 37 Mubi Adamawa 280,009 38 Onitsha Anambra 261,604 39 Sagamu Ogun 253,412 40 Makurdi Benue 249,000 41 Mokwa Niger 244,937 42 Badagry Lagos 241,093 43 Ilesa Osun 233,900 44 Gombe Gombe 230,900 45 Obafemi Owode Ogun 228,851 46 Owo Ondo 218,886 47 Suleja Niger 216,578 48 Lavun Niger 209,917 49 Potiskum Yobe 205,876 50 Kukawa Borno 203,864 51 Gusau Zamfara 201,200 52 Iwo Osun 191,377 53 Bida Niger 188,181 54 Ugep Cross River 187,000 55 Ijebu Ode Ogun 186,700 56 Epe Lagos 181,409 57 Ise Ekiti Ekiti 167,100 58 Gboko Benue 166,400 59 Ilawe Ekiti Ekiti 160,700 60 Ikare Ondo 160,600 61 Osogbo Osun 156,694 62 Okpoko Anambra 152,900 63 Garki Jigawa 152,233 64 Sapele Delta 151,000 65 Ila Osun 150,700 66 Shaki Oyo 150,300 67 Ijero Ekiti 147,300 68 Ikot Ekpene Akwa Ibom 143,077 69 Jalingo Taraba 139,845 70 Otukpo Benue 136,800 71 Okigwe Imo 132,237 72 Kisi Oyo 130,800 73 Buguma Rivers 124,200 74 Funtua Katsina 122,500 75 Abakaliki Ebonyi 151,723 76 Asaba Delta 149,603 77 Gbongan Osun 117,300 78 Igboho Oyo 115,000 79 Gashua Yobe 109,600 80 Bama Borno 102,800 81UromiEdo101,400

Population According to the 2006 Nigerian national census, Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, with headquarters in Kabba, had a population of 145,446 people.

Urban areas An urban area is a continuously built-up land mass of urban development that is within a labor market, without regard for administrative or city boundaries. An urban area is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of a built environment.

This section lists contiguous urban areas in Nigeria, with a population of at least 500,000. The figures here have been taken from Demographia's "World Urban Areas" study in 2016. Demographia uses maps, satellite photographs to estimate continuous urbanization.

RankCityStatePopulationAreaDensityper per 1LagosLagos12,830,000 2OnitshaAnambra7,910,000 3KanoKano3,680,000 4IbadanOyo2,910,000 5Port HarcourtRivers1,865,000 6JosPlateau1,580,000 7Benin CityEdo1,355,000 8AbaAbia1,215,000 9KadunaKaduna1,100,000 10AbujaFCT890,000 11EnuguEnugu810,000 12IlorinKwara790,000

Cities and Towns by population 2025 population estimates

Lagos 17,803,700 Kano 4,810,800 Abuja 4,392,360 Ibadan 4,293,160 Port Harcourt 3,951,670 Benin City 2,120,460 Onitsha 1,839,880 Uyo 1,520,020 Aba 1,428,069 Nnewi 1,421,790 Kaduna 1,302,330 Ilorin 1,282,219 Ikorodu 1,248,110 Warri 1,120,980 Enugu 1,115,303 Owerri 1,105,500 Jos 1,071,590 Umuahia 1,033,090 Lokoja 974,767 Maiduguri 929,408 Bauchi 881,600 Zaria 835,966 Akure 834,009 Abeokuta 800,000 Oyo 793,241 Sokoto 789,726 * Yola 758,153 Ogbomosho 744,835 Gusau 682,700 Calabar 673,427 Osogbo 645,000 Yenagoa 586,393 Katsina 565,000 Minna 552,407 Okene 546,000 Makurdi 517,342 Ondo 510,000 Lafia 509,300 Okpoko 506,000 Ifẹ 492,000 Nsukka 483,256 Shaki 472,000 Ikeja 470,200 Ado Ekiti 469,700 Gombe 446,800 Sagamu 435,200 Awka 430,200 Lekki 420,000 Mokwa 416,600 Ilesa 416,000 Asaba 403,859 Obafemi Owode 399,800 Ijebu Ode 394,246 Otukpo 384,600 Suleja 368,900 Gboko 367,407 Iseyin 365,300 Lavun 359,800 Badagry 351,900 Mubi 344,599 Ikare 330,941 Jalingo 322,268 Potiskum 322,100 Bida 318,300 Ijero Ekiti 304,924 Owo 301,931 Garki 300,000 Kukawa 297,900 Iwo 277,101 Epe 269,000 Igboho 239,480 Sapele 238,800 Ugep 236,897 Funtua 236,087 Uromi 226,433 Abakaliki 223,000 Ise Ekiti 210,000 Oye 206,300 Ilawe Ekiti 200,000 Ede 200,000 Bama 195,377 Buguma 187,695 Okigwe 184,500 Ikot Ekpene 180,500 Ila 179,192 Kisi 155,510 Gashua 144,012 Gbongan 139,485 Oron 120,000 Jebba 59,820

See also List of cities in Nigeria List of populated places in Nigeria Lists of villages in Nigeria

Notes

References

Further reading

External links