Lagos State, Nigeria — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Lagos State known for?

Lagos State is known as the compact coastal region of southwestern Nigeria built around Lagos, the port city it takes its name from. One city defines it. Bounded by the Bight of Benin to the south, the state meets the Republic of Benin to the west and Ogun State to the north and east, the only Nigerian state to border just one other within the country.

It is the smallest of Nigeria's 36 states by area.

Where is Lagos State?

Lagos State occupies the far southwestern corner of Nigeria, a low coastal stretch fronting the Bight of Benin. The sea sets its edge. The Atlantic waters of the Bight of Benin form the entire southern boundary of the state, a warm gulf that shapes the creeks, lagoons, and low ground running back from the shore.

It is the smallest state in the country. Though modest in area, the state packs the coast of southwestern Nigeria into a tight frame between the water and the inland border with Ogun State. Lagos anchors the state.

The port city of Lagos spreads across the coast and its lagoons, filling much of the state with built ground that reaches from the Bight of Benin toward the interior. Two borders hem it in. To the west the state meets the Republic of Benin along Nigeria's international frontier, while Ogun State wraps its northern and eastern side, making Lagos State the only Nigerian state to border a single other state within the country.

Its origins are recent. Carved from the old Western Region and the former Federal Capital Territory, the state was drawn along this narrow band of the southwestern coast, where the land of Nigeria runs out into the Bight of Benin.

What is Lagos State like?

Lagos State draws the urban life of southwestern Nigeria into a single coastal region built around Lagos. English carries daily life here. As the state named for its port city, Lagos State centres its culture on Lagos itself, a place of trade and movement on the Bight of Benin where the life of the coast gathers.

The coast shapes the character. Facing the Bight of Benin and the frontier with the Republic of Benin, the state looks out to the sea and across Nigeria's western border at once. Trade runs through it.

Grown around a working port on the Bight of Benin, Lagos State carries the commercial and social pull of Lagos through the whole of its narrow coastal frame. English ties it together. The English language of Lagos and its surrounding towns links the state to the rest of Nigeria, from the Ogun State line in the interior to the border with the Republic of Benin.

Its roots lie in the Western Region. Formed from the old Western Region and the former Federal Capital Territory, the state carries a shared coastal identity along this southwestern edge of Nigeria, where the land meets the Bight of Benin.

What is the history of Lagos State?

Lagos State was formed in 1967, carved from the Western Region and the former Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. Its creation was an act of statecraft. Drawn along the Bight of Benin in the southwest, the new state took in the port city of Lagos and the coastal land around it, a young state on an old and much-travelled stretch of the Nigerian coast.

What is the climate of Lagos State?

Lagos State has a hot tropical climate, moderated by the waters of the Bight of Benin. The seasons split by rain. Warm and humid through the year, the coast of southwestern Nigeria swings between a long wet season and a drier stretch, with the moist air of the Bight of Benin holding heavy rains over the low coastal land.

How do you get to Lagos State?

Lagos State is reached through Lagos, the port city on the Bight of Benin. Most arrivals land at the coast. Travellers reach the state by air and by sea at Lagos, then move inland across the Ogun State line or west toward the border with the Republic of Benin, since the coast of southwestern Nigeria draws the main routes to its shore.